Don’t let the headline fool you. This is still a Washington Capitals player preview for Nicolas Aube-Kubel. But even though he played for almost one full season last year, he got an honor bestowed on him that can rival all his teammates.
That honor is being the favorite player of team captain Alex Ovechkin’s son Sergei.
You read that correctly. Sergei Ovechkin’s favorite hockey player is NOT his dad, but Nicolas Aube-Kubel. For comparison’s sake, NAK needs just 797 more career goals to catch Ovi, for now at least.
If you’re the favorite player of a son of someone who nearly has 800 goals more than you do, that’s a distinct honor. NAK played in six games for the Toronto Maple Leafs before he was placed on waivers.
The Caps scooped him up on Nov. 5. In just his third game playing with the Capitals, he got suspended for an illegal check to the head. When that three game suspension got lifted, NAK was ready to shine.
In 47 games he had four goals and eight assists for 12 points. In addition he had a plus minus of two along with 46 penalty minutes. He averaged 11:39 minutes of ice time and was a key component of the fourth line.
Last season wasn’t even his best season and we have yet to see his ceiling. But having the approval from Ovi Jr. could be the jump start that he needs.
In the 2021 22 season he helped the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup. This came, ironically, after he was claimed off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers having played in just seven games.
Those 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points came in 67 regular season games, all with the Avs. Imagine what he could do if he was able to play a full 82 game season.
If he can do better than those numbers with the Avalanche, Brian MacLellan will have a tough decision to make in the summer of 2024 as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent.