Washington Capitals' GM Has Offseason Plan With or Without Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin's playing career is up in the air at the moment, but the Washington Capitals aren't letting it impact their offseason. General manager Chris Patrick admitted recently the team has to plan either way, and they'll be prepared if Ovechkin comes back or steps away from the game as the NHL's greatest goal scorer.

The Capitals missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs but have a ton of good storylines from the 2025-26 season, including a new wave of young core talent that is going to make a huge difference on the ice in years to come. Patrick won't put any pressure on Ovechkin to make a decision, but you have to think a decision before the NHL Draft would be ideal so Patrick can react either way.

“We're giving him some time here to get away from the season a little bit and think things through and talk to his family," Patrick said Monday. "We'll continue to support him in however his decision process plays out. We'll be able to have a plan with or without him.”

“Ideally, we would know going into the draft, but again, I think he’s earned the right to do the process how he wants to, and so we’ll just work with whatever we get from him, information-wise," Patrick said. “We're in a window where we're trying to win," Patrick said. "We have a good team here, and we're hoping to add pieces. We're in a good spot cap-wise going into this offseason to have flexibility to do different things," Patrick said.

It wasn't all good news of late for the Caps, as defenceman Rasmus Sandin underwent knee surgery and could be out to start next season. Washington swung and missed on trading for Artemi Panarin, so you know there's huge interest in adding another impact forward this summer. Don't be surprised to see a big trade coming from Patrick.

“I think we're really in the best spot we've been in as far as having the stuff to trade that a team might want. We've got picks, we've got some good prospects. There's obviously some prospects that we're not going to move in these deals," Patrick said. "From that perspective, our wallet's full. If there's an opportunity there, we'd like to jump on it.”

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