Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin will bounce back

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is under fire after failing to meet his high standards of excellence. But if history is an indicator, expect The Great Eight to bounce back strong next season.

The Washington Capitals are blessed to have Alex Ovechkin as their captain. At the end of the day, all you can ask for from your team’s leader is they give it their all to help their team win. While the second part hasn’t happened much, it’s undeniable Ovechkin has come through for them numerous times. However, after a lackluster (by his standards) 2016-17 season, people are starting to doubt him.

This isn’t the first time The Great Eight has been doubted. It happened after the 2011-12 season, when Dale Hunter had an awkward at best relationship with Ovechkin. The coach utilized him as a fourth liner at times. After this season, people started saying the Caps should trade Ovi. What did he do the next season? Lead the NHL in scoring and win another Hart Trophy.

The whispers grew much louder after the 2013-14 season, one of the most frustrating in Capitals history. Ovechkin once again got to the 50 goal plateau, but the team was in complete disarray. As captain, The Great Eight was an obvious target. His -35 plus-minus rating certainly didn’t help his case. The hatred for Ovechkin reached its peak when someone had the audacity to suggest the Capitals would be better off if he left for the KHL.

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How did he respond? By leaping back into the conversation for best player in the game. With the help of a much better team and new head coach Barry Trotz, Ovechkin saw his plus-minus grow to +10. Suddenly, the “trade Ovi” crowd got mighty silent.

They’ve gotten much louder following another disappointing early playoff exit at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ironically, despite all the hot takes, nobody’s discussing why the Capitals should actually consider trading him. It’s not because he “doesn’t show up in May”. Nor is it “because the team can’t win with him”.

The second one is especially interesting because Ovechkin ranks sixth among active players with at least 70 postseason games in points per game in the playoffs. If you can’t win with someone that productive, it’s not the player’s fault when you lose. It’s the team’s.

If (and this is a huge if) the Capitals want to trade Ovechkin, it should be because they want to improve the team. Or because this might be the last time they can trade him for a good return. But if Caps fans have learned one thing over the past decade, it’s this – don’t ever count out Ovechkin.

He’s still a dynamic player. Ovechkin is still the NHL’s most efficient power play weapon. Even though he only scored 33 goals (second fewest of his career), Ovi was still productive thanks to an impressive assist rate. Ovechkin took advantage of people taking him seriously, feeding passes to Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. It’s not a coincidence the former had the second most goals of his career and the latter set a career high.

Next: Mock offseason: Loading up for a Stanley Cup run

Each time Ovechkin has faced his most criticism, that’s when he bounces back strong. So if Ovi reminds everyone why he’s still The Great Eight in 2017-18, just remember you probably shouldn’t have doubted him in the first place.

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