Washington Capitals: It’s time to get a deal done with Alex Ovechkin
During the first intermission of last night’s Washington Capitals game against the Boston Bruins on the NBC Sports Network, Bob McKenzie came on the air to talk about the contract talks between Brian MacLellan and Alex Ovechkin.
We are about halfway through the season and so far there is no update. There have at least been “multiple conversations” but now talks have been put on hold till April.
That sounds alarming to fans that they haven’t re-signed their superstar yet, however, both Ovechkin and the Caps want him back. McKenzie said there is no concern about Ovechkin leaving for another team. But the biggest challenge facing MacLellan is how much money he would want to spend on Ovechkin.
Ovechkin carries a $9.5 million cap hit and after all he’s done for the Caps including winning them a Stanley Cup, he deserves a raise. It begs the question, how much of a raise are we talking?
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"“Anything above $9.5 million, for every million dollars you’re asking for, that’s a million you’ve got to subtract somewhere else. So it’s really up to Alex Ovechkin in terms of determining how much is necessary for him to come back and play for the Caps, but to try and do so without diminishing the strength of the Caps as a legitimate Cup contender.”"
Like Backstrom, Ovechkin will be negotiating his contract all by himself without an agent. The Caps got it done with Backstrom last year so the term on Ovechkin’s deal is likely going to be in the ballpark of three to five years. That would give him plenty of time for the chance to win the Caps another Cup as well as chase Wayne Gretzky’s record.
But the important thing is that this deal gets done before the playoffs. Imagine for a second if there wasn’t. Then I would be concerned as a fan. The Caps would be in the playoffs, which will be challenging enough with this weird pandemic format, a deal would not be done and it would cause a huge distraction in the locker room.
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If a distraction occurs in the locker room during the playoffs you’re talking about another first round exit which is something Ovechkin and the Caps can’t afford. It will be an interesting next few months for the organization and hopefully, they get a deal done before the end of April. Ovechkin deserves it more than anyone.