The Washington Capitals are doing the smart thing. They are not holding practices at an abundance of caution with three players on COVID protocol. Thankfully nobody got added to the list on Tuesday. And this gap between games is a huge blessing.
Next up on the docket is the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Caps now have a chance to get total payback for the infamous Jaromir Jagr trade. But sometimes good can come from bad. It happened on July 11, 2001 when the Capitals and Penguins actually traded with EACH OTHER.
It’s been 20 years and a whole lot has changed.This dude was a Caps killer in the playoffs and won a Hart Trophy and multiple Stanley Cups. Surely this was going to give the Caps a boost right? Nope.
Ted Leonsis had a goal and that was to win the Stanley Cup in three to five years. It took Ovechkin 10 years AFTER his third season when he took the Caps to the playoffs for the first time. It was an 10 year roller coaster but worth the wait as we all like to say.
Jagr’s numbers dipped from 121 points and 52 goals in his final year with he Penguins to just 79 points and 31 goals in his first season with the Capitals. The Caps also missed the Stanley Cup playoffs that season. The next year he had 77 points but 36 goals and this time the Caps made the playoffs. They came up short to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games after leading the series 2-0.
That promoted a fire sale the following season. The Caps had not only traded for Jagr but signed on for a five year extension during the summer of 2001. Perhaps that was Ted’s five year window. It was upped seven years and $77 million. He got traded in January 2004 to the New York Rangers for Anson Carter and the boo birds were out even more when the two teams met.
Thankfully they didn’t necessarily have to worry about Jagr in those playoff matchups. He’s been around from team to team but when the dust was settled and he was done with the NHL he ended his career with 766 goals.
So back to the Caps, they did the fire sale and the tanking and trusted the process. That process led them to the lottery which allowed them to take a generational talent in Alex Ovechkin.
Even if I wasn’t a Caps fan, I would’ve still admired a player like Ovi. He’s one of a kind and he’s got a fun personality. Someone that brings light to a game. Watching his evolution from a kid to elite has been incredible and on Saturday night he scored his 750th goal to put him just 16 behind. How bout a couple tonight to get him closer?
For comparisons sake, since Jagr has played in the NHL for 24 years with a stop in the KHL in between in his mid 30’s. So we can’t compare the two when it comes to what they did at age 36. He currently plays in the Czech league with Rytiri Kladno with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points. He’s 49 years old.
But we can compare seasons and how long it took the two to reach the mark. Jagr was 45 years old and had one goal in 22 games before he called it an NHL career. He had 54 goals in Ovechkin’s rookie year which was his first full year with the Rangers. As he climbed up in age he had some 20s and 30s range goals including 27 in his third to last season. He was with the Florida Panthers then. He retired as a member of the Calgary Flames and my head is spinning from writing all this.
Jagr’s challenges were bouncing from team to team and adapting to their culture. Ovechkin’s challenges have been lockouts and a pandemic. This article might’ve been written a year or two ago if none of these happened.
7️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/bMUcBkbzUc
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 5, 2021
This season Ovechkin has 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points in just 26 games. He’s on track to break Jagr’s record and slide into third place with 16 goals to tie it and 17 to take the lead.
Again, he’s 36. If he keeps at this pace Ovechkin could top the 65 goal mark that he scored during that franchise changing third season. That came in the 2007-08 season and was the most scored in a season since 1995-96. Although Ovechkin didn’t score on Monday, his 21 assists are already more than last season. He had two in their win over the Anaheim Ducks.
He does have some challenges coming up though. The Olympic break in February is looming. Who knows if he will cool off before or after that but the more goals he gets now the less he will have to worry about later.