#1 Alex Ovechkin
This sounds as cliche as it gets and maybe it’s overused but it couldn’t be more factual: the Washington Capitals will go as far as Alex Ovechkin can take them. He is now the oldest player on the team but still looks good for someone who’s about to turn 34. If Ovechkin puts up numbers similar to what he did the last two seasons, he’ll defy age once again.
Ovechkin had a 49-goal season in 2017-18 and a 51-goal season last year. He’ll look for his ninth career season scoring 50 or more goals. He’ll embark on his penultimate season of his massive 13-year contract that he signed back in 2008 worth $124-million. At the time some pundits thought it was lucrative. As the city discovered three months later when Ovechkin made the playoffs, it was worth every penny.
Ovechkin will be motivated more than ever to win another Stanley Cup and he looks to continue to lead the locker room. Expect Ovechkin to be on the top line next to Nicklas Backstrom to begin the season, as the duo has proven inseparable. They put on a show in the playoffs and it’ll be up to the rest of the team to follow their lead.