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Alex Ovechkin

Snapshots: Celebrini, Ovechkin, Avalanche

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The San Jose Sharks are eagerly anticipating first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, emphasized by new head coach Ryan Warsofsky, who told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com that he’s expecting Celebrini to drive the lineup. Warsofsky said, “He’s so driven. I think at times we’re going to have to reel him back just because he wants to go, go, go, but he’s a super competitive, self-driven young person, which you don’t see a lot this day and age. That’s what impressed me the most.”

There’s certainly plenty of opportunity available in San Jose. The Sharks couldn’t make it to 20 wins last season, largely thanks to their 2.20 goals-per-game – the second-lowest in the NHL since 2017, behind the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2.17 average last season. San Jose has since parted with Tomas Hertl, Anthony Duclair, Filip Zadina, and Mike Hoffman – four of their top seven scorers from last season. They’ve been replaced by new signees Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg, as well as team captain Logan Couture, who’s expected to return from injury soon, and fellow rookie Will Smith. But those additions pale in comparison to Celebrini, who’s coming off a collegiate season that made him the youngest Hobey Baker Trophy winner in NCAA history – one year after winning the USHL MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. He’s a driven and impressive playmaker who seems poised for quick success. The Sharks will look to lean into that momentum by putting Celebrini into an immediate premier role in the lineup.

Other quick notes around the league:

  • Superstar Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin is planning to return to the United States in early September to prepare for his 20th NHL season, agent Gleb Chistyakov shared with MatchTV. Some Capitals have already returned to practices with their teammates, shares Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, though those skates remain informal. Ovechkin has stayed on the ice this summer, participating in a variety of event skates including a recent NHL vs KHL event that pitted Russia’s top pros against a menagerie of NHL stars. He’ll transition back into pro-mode soon, looking to continue his chase for Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record into its second decade. Ovechkin currently sits 42 goals back from the record – a mark he’s reached in 13 different seasons, including in two of the last three years.
  • The Colorado Avalanche are still working to round out their lineup amid a cap crunch, which could lead the team to take advantage of professional try-outs as September rolls around. Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now posited four different options for a PTO, notably including former Ottawa Senators winger Dominik Kubalik. Rawal shared that Colorado frequently scouted Ottawa’s games last season and could be drawn to Kubalik’s scoring upside. The 28-year-old winger took a hard fall last season, netting just 11 goals and 15 points in 74 games – after scoring at least 30 points in his previous four NHL seasons. His rookie season in 2019-20 still stands as Kubalik’s career year, marked by 30 goals and 46 points in 68 games. He could rediscover that spark in Colorado, though he’ll first have to negotiate a PTO and win out a roster spot – both uphill battles.

Extension Retrospective: Alex Ovechkin

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It’s the third anniversary of the five-year, $47.5MM extension signed by Alex Ovechkin with the Washington Capitals in 2021. On the wrong side of 30 for a professional hockey player, Ovechkin has proven to be an above-average signing on a high-priced deal.

At an average annual value of $9.5MM, Ovechkin has been a point-per-game presence in his chase for Wayne Gretzky’s goal record of 894 goals throughout his career. Since starting his new contract in the 2021-22 NHL season, Ovechkin has scored 123 goals and 230 points in 229 games. Now, sitting just 41 goals behind the record with two years left to go on his current deal, Ovechkin should be able to cross the all-time barrier.

The major question surrounding Ovechkin’s legacy is his ability to win. The goal-scoring legend has one Cup ring under his belt from the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs but has failed to reach beyond that with the Washington Capitals. There has been some speculation that the team is more focused on Ovechkin’s individual metrics than the organization’s desire to win. The Capitals were able to navigate around Ovechkin’s contract this summer with several moves this offseason, which put them in a much more competitive spot than they were a year ago.

Ovechkin’s contract shouldn’t get in the way of any future spending for the Capitals — especially after the team made significant additions this offseason. Washington has made the playoffs in 15 of the last 17 seasons and should be able to help Ovechkin pursue the all-time goal record set by Gretzky and qualify for the playoffs in 2024-25.

Snapshots: MHL, Arbitration, ESPN

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The KHL will be testing a new backcourt violation rule in their junior hockey league, the MHL (Twitter link). The rule that will come into effect for the 2024-25 season will forbid players from skating the puck back to their side of center in overtime more than one time. A first violation will cause a stoppage in play and the team guilty of the backcourt violation will see a faceoff occur in their defensive zone. Any additional violation in overtime will cause a minor penalty to be called.

The trial run will be interesting to watch as there have been calls for this type of rule in North America, although no change to the rule is pending. NHL clubs have been utilizing their defensive zone in recent years as a reset during overtime and it has made 3 on 3 overtime in the NHL far less exciting than it was when it was first introduced.

In other news from around the hockey world:

  • David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that the NHLPA has taken a new approach to arbitration hearings, opting not to release a full schedule ahead of the hearings. The news makes sense given that very little information is available about the scheduled hearings and they will begin tomorrow. The pivot means that fans won’t know about the time and date of hearings until an arbitrator has decided the outcome or the team and player have settled before arbitration. Arbitration can be contentious between teams and their players and might be something that is looked at the next time the NHL and NHLPA renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement.
  • ESPN released a list ranking the top 100 professional athletes of this century. The list was largely absent of hockey players but there were a handful that made the cut. It isn’t shocking to see so few players on their list but keep in mind that this is the network that owns a lot of NHL distribution rights and streaming rights at the moment. Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby topped this list for hockey players, finishing 22nd, while Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was 54th, and Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid finished a shocking 98th.

Evening Snapshots: Wild, Capitals, Drysdale

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Earlier today, the Minnesota Wild announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon would be missing the rest of the season due to back and hip surgery, and Joe Smith of The Athletic speculates that the organization may use their newfound cap space to improve their situation. Only two days ago, General Manager Bill Guerin publicly stated that he is unwilling to give up on the 2023-24 season, and fully expects this team to compete for a playoff spot over the next couple of months.

If Minnesota is going to operate as a buyer come trade deadline time, there are a few options at defense they could look to acquire. Assuming the team looks for a right-handed defenseman to replace the lost minutes left by Spurgeon, they could become a dark horse contender for a defenseman such as Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames, or even look to acquire Tyson Barrie from their division rivals, the Nashville Predators.

In the next few weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the status of the Wild’s playoff chances should come into much clearer view for Guerin, which should help him steer the ship in a more concrete direction. Whatever the case may be, if Minnesota decides to make a major move to replace Spurgeon for the rest of the season, they will have approximately $5.1MM in cap flexibility to do so.

Other snapshots:

  • In tonight’s game for the Washington Capitals, they saw the return of their captain, Alex Ovechkin, who had missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, the team will be without a few players, as Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reported that defenseman Joel Edmundson would not play in tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, and forward Beck Malenstyn is out due to personal reasons.
  • Moving on to another team in the Metropolitan Division, even though Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported earlier that newly-acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale was not seen at practice today, he was able to draw into the lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers this evening. Suiting up for the team in two games, Drysdale came down with an illness shortly after arriving in Philadelphia and subsequently missed the next two contests for the team. Drawing back in the lineup against the Dallas Stars, Drysdale has already skated in over 14 minutes of the game and has put two shots on the net.

Morning Notes: Byram, Lehkonen, Ovechkin, Guentzel

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Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Artturi Lehkonen will make their returns to the lineup within the next week, head coach Jared Bednar said on Altitude Sports Radio (KKSE-FM). Both players, who are on IR and LTIR, respectively, will be activated by next Wednesday’s game against the Capitals at the latest. They’ve been ruled out for tomorrow’s game in Boston, however. Byram will have missed at least seven games with a lower-body injury sustained Jan. 4 against the Stars, while Lehkonen has been out for over two months with a neck injury and will miss his 34th game tomorrow. The Avalanche will either need to assign one contract to the minors or move Valeri Nichushkin to LTIR while he completes treatment in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program to clear up the cap space for Lehkonen’s $4.5MM cap hit to come off LTIR. They’re currently short about $500K in space to execute the transaction, per CapFriendly.

More from around the NHL this morning:

  • The Capitals expect captain Alex Ovechkin to return from a lower-body injury during their next two games, head coach Spencer Carbery said on 106.7 The Fan (WJFK-FM) today. Ovechkin has missed the last three games, but the Capitals have emerged with a 2-1-0 record in a trio of low-scoring affairs without him. Carbery commented further on the nature of his star sniper’s absence, saying the injury isn’t related to an awkward collision he had with Hurricanes center Jordan Staal earlier in the month. While “The Great 8” has had a much-publicized down season in the goal-scoring department (8-19–27 in 39 games), he was on a six-game point streak before exiting the lineup and still holds a slim lead on Dylan Strome for most points on the team.
  • Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is expected to have a conversation with pending UFA winger Jake Guentzel’s camp about his future with the team during the upcoming All-Star break, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Monday’s edition of the “32 Thoughts” podcast. Reports earlier this month indicated Guentzel’s agent, Ben Hankinson, may opt to delay extension talks until the summer. While a 6-2-2 run in their last 10 games now has the Penguins at a 60% chance of making the postseason, per Hockey Reference, they’re not a lock in a competitive Metropolitan Division. If their conversation in a few weeks doesn’t result in Dubas having substantive confidence in his ability to extend Guentzel, the two-time 40-goal scorer may end up the subject of a blockbuster deadline trade.

Morning Notes: Alexandrov, Bussi, Ovechkin

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that they’ve recalled forward Nikita Alexandrov from his conditioning assignment with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League. Alexandrov was loaned to Springfield back on January 4th after he had been a healthy scratch for ten straight games with the Blues.

Alexandrov made the most of the demotion and was very productive with the Thunderbirds as he tallied two goals and five assists in seven games. The 23-year-old has no points in 10 NHL games this season with St. Louis and is a -2. He has averaged 7:28 of ice time per game with the Blues and has struggled badly at even strength.

In other morning notes:

  • The Boston Bruins have announced that they’ve returned goaltender Brandon Bussi to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. Bussi had been recalled on an emergency basis back on January 11th, although he didn’t see any game action during his recall. The 25-year-old has put together an impressive AHL career thus far but has yet to see any NHL action despite being recalled on a number of occasions. This year has been a struggle for Bussi as he has seen his save percentage fall dramatically to just .901 on the season while his goals-against average has climbed to 2.94.
  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News is reporting that Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision tonight when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. It will make the fifth straight game that Ovechkin is a game-time decision as he tries to battle through a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since January 11th. Ovechkin has missed two games at this point but did take the entire morning skate with the Capitals today, although he sat out of the power-play reps. Ovechkin has just eight goals this season after tallying 42 last year. The 38-year-old had been heating up leading up to the injury with a goal and five assists in his last five games.

Snapshots: Ovechkin, Vlasic, Petan, Bellows

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Washington Capitals star winger Alex Ovechkin is officially sidelined, now set to miss his second straight game with a lower-body injury, per team reporter Bailey Johnson. Ovechkin has been dealing with the injury for about a week, taking part in the optional practices and traveling with the team to New York. Ovechkin’s next chance to play will be when the Capitals face the Anaheim Ducks at home on Tuesday.

Ovechkin is experiencing the lowest goals-per-game pace of his career this season, boasting just eight through 39 games this season. But that hasn’t limited his scoring upside, with the 38-year-old still leading the Washington roster with 27 points. He also leads all Capitals forwards in ice time, averaging roughly 19-and-a-half each game. It’s been an impressive year for the 1386-game veteran of the league, who is proving just how effective he still is, even if his illustrious chase of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record may be dwindling.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke about the likelihood of signing high-end rookie defenseman Alex Vlasic to a long-term deal – sharing that the team is definitely considering weighing the idea but wants to be sure before committing to a long-term cap hit. Vlasic currently has 10 points in 37 games this season, adding 25 penalty minutes and a +7. He ranks second in scoring among Hawks defenders, and first among the team’s multiple rookie defenders.
  • The Minnesota Wild have sent forward Nic Petan back to the minor leagues. Petan was recalled on December 31st, appearing in the team’s last five games. He managed two points and a -2 over the stretch. Petan has also appeared in 26 AHL games this season, scoring 10 goals and 28 points.
  • Kieffer Bellows has signed a minor league deal with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, officially joining the team through the rest of the season. Bellows has already appeared in 25 games with the club, scoring 14 goals and 26 points, leading the team in goals and ranking second in points. Bellows played in 27 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season, scoring three goals and recording a -7. The New York Islanders drafted Bellows 19th-overall in the 2016 NHL Draft and is one of seven players from that First Round to not yet play in 100 NHL games. He remains five games short, managing 31 points in 95 career games.

Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Ovechkin, Kakko

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Among the teams that the Flyers discussed a Cutter Gauthier trade with was the Avalanche, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link).  Friedman suggests that Philadelphia’s target from the Avs may have been blueliner Bowen Byram, an option that wasn’t palatable for Colorado in a one-for-one swap.  Of course, Gauthier wound up being moved to Anaheim for another blueliner, Jamie Drysdale, who is off to a nice start with his new team with a pair of assists in his first two games while averaging nearly 21 minutes a night.  With Drysdale being a right-shot player and Byram a left-shot blueliner (which Philadelphia has more of in their system), it’s possible that Colorado’s rejection may work out better for them in the long run.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin was scratched today due to a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). It has been a tough year for Washington’s captain as the 38-year-old has been limited to just eight goals and 19 assists in 38 games although his 27 points still lead the team.  Ovechkin has missed several practices in recent days with this lingering issue and it looks as if they’re going to try resting him outright to see if that helps the injury heal.
  • Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko isn’t quite ready to return yet, relays Newsday’s Colin Stephenson (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has missed the last six weeks with a lower-body injury and while he’s skating with the team, head coach Peter Laviolette indicated that they want to give Kakko a ramp-up period before returning so it appears he’ll need a bit more time.  Kakko has struggled this season, notching just three points in 20 games before the injury.

Injury Updates: Skinner, Nečas, Capitals

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Although the Sabres have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL and one that seems likelier and likelier to extend through 2023-24, their lack of team progress has not stopped individual Sabres from taking major steps forward in their career. $9MM AAV forward Jeff Skinner is coming off of a career year in which he scored 82 points, and currently has 33 points in 38 games. He’s among Buffalo’s most reliable offensive generators, which makes it all the more distressing that he’s suffered an upper-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn.

Fairburn reports that “the Sabres are waiting for the results” of the imaging Skinner underwent this morning in order to determine a timetable for his recovery. Any significant Skinner absence could be a potential killing blow to the Sabres’ long-shot playoff hopes. He’s skated on the team’s first line alongside Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson, and although three-time 20-goal scorer Victor Olofsson would see more regular time in the lineup in Skinner’s absence, the Sabres don’t have any players who appear capable of replicating Skinner’s playmaking abilities.

Other injury notes from across the NHL:

  • Carolina Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff has provided updates from head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who says that forward Martin Nečas’ upper-body injury “isn’t too serious,” though it may keep him out of the lineup tomorrow. Necas last played in Carolina’s December 2nd win against the New York Rangers, before getting injured. After scoring 28 goals and 71 points last season Necas is scoring at a 20-goal, 56-point pace this season.
  • The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson reports that both Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson were on the ice ahead of team practice this morning. Wilson was wearing a “fishbowl” helmet to protect his broken nose. Both players skated in the team’s most recent game Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, but there was some fear that neither would be available tomorrow against Seattle due to injury. They’re still not confirmed to be ready to play, but today’s reporting does point in a positive direction in that regard.

Injury Updates: Sandin Pellikka, Bennett, Ovechkin

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Axel Sandin Pellikka, one of the Detroit Red Wings’ top prospects, played the gold medal game of the recent IIHF World Junior Championship through an injury. Additionally, Sandin Pellikka will at the very least miss this full next week as he awaits further information on the injury, which could have a “longer recovery period” according to Swedish outlet Sportbladet.

Although Sandin Pellikka couldn’t quite manage to lead Sweden to the gold medal, he nonetheless had an extremely strong tournament with six points in seven games. He’s played club hockey this year for Skellefteå AIK, one of the SHL’s better teams. Playing as the team’s number-two defenseman, Sandin Pellikka has had a strong start to the season with nine goals and 13 points in 25 games.

Some other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett sustained an upper-body injury, according to head coach Paul Maurice. (via AP’s Colby Guy) Maurice added that they’re “not too concerned” about the injury, indicating that it’s likely his injury will not keep him out for much longer than a day-to-day timeline. Bennett is currently slotted in as the Panthers’ second-line center in between Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe, and he has scored seven goals and 14 points in 27 games this season.
  • The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber reports that Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is a game-time decision for today’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings. Ovechkin played in the Capitals’ most recent game but was held out of yesterday’s practice as a maintenance day. Ovechkin’s absence would leave a hole on the Capitals’ first line to be filled, with healthy scratch Matthew Phillips potentially taking up his role next to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson.

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