EmailPrintOpen Extended Reactions"I'm back, babes."It took Alex Ovechkin three words in a social media video to conclude one of the most intensely scrutinized storylines of the NHL offseason.The league's all-time leading goal scorer (929 in 1,573 games) will return for a 22nd season. The captain of the Washington Capitals, who turns 41 in September, will not hang up his gold-laced skates quite yet. His declaration was a surprise to those who misread the Capitals' busy offseason as a transition away from Ovechkin. It was never about that. Nor were the team's moves made to persuade Ovechkin to return next season, though he indicated that it was essential to him that the Capitals improve their roster after missing the playoffs last season. That he's satisfied with their moves is an ancillary benefit to what GM Chris Patrick and his staff sought to accomplish this summer."The Ovechkin thing was independent of it," Patrick told ESPN this week. "Ovi or not, to make ourselves a playoff team, we needed to add some more forward talent. And that's what we did."No team this offseason could match the quantity and quality of the Capitals' offseason moves. The team traded for St. Louis Blues star winger Jordan Kyrou ($8.125 million cap hit through 2030-31). It followed that with a sign-and-trade with the Buffalo Sabres that landed winger Alex Tuch, who would have been the top forward available in unrestricted free agency. Tuch signed an eight-year contract with Washington on a deal with a $10.5 million cap hit.As free agency opened, Washington's spree continued. The club signed Columbus center Boone Jenner ($5.75 million cap hit through 2029-30), Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski ($850,000 through next season), as well as defensemen Justin Holl ($900,000 through next season) and Vincent Desharnais ($4.2 million through 2029-30).Patrick said these moves "definitely helped inform" Ovechkin's decision to return next season on a one-year, incentive-laden. Then again, some around the Capitals believe he was always coming back -- at least from the moment Ovechkin said he was "pretty sure" their season finale in Columbus would not be his final game.Whether the Capitals' busy offseason influenced Ovechkin, these moves weren't made specifically with him in mind. The Capitals had the 12th-most points in the NHL last season (95), missing the playoff cut by three points. Whether Ovechkin quietly retired in Russia or loudly returned for what could be a farewell NHL season, the Capitals believed their core of players was good enough to contend."We're in a window where we're trying to win," Patrick said after the season. "We have a good team here, and we're hoping to add pieces."THAT CORE INCLUDES forward Tom Wilson, 32; center Pierre-Luc Dubois, 28; defenseman Jakob Chychrun, 28; defenseman Martin Fehervary, 26; and goalie Logan Thompson, 29. Joining them are the next wave of Capitals: winger Ryan Leonard, 21; winger Aliaksei Protas, 25; forward Ilya Protas, 19; and defenseman Cole Hutson, 20, younger brother of Montreal Canadiens phenom Lane Hutson."We all feel last season was a failure," Wilson said after the Capitals were eliminated from playoff contention, missing the postseason cut for just the third time since 2008. "There's a lot to learn from [last] year. There's a level of excitement going forward with the young players and the core that we have. But there's a level of frustration. We think we're a better team than some of the teams that got into the playoffs."Patrick and his staff walked into the offseason with several variations of a plan to get their team back into the playoffs. They had a lot of cap space with which to work. They had targeted Kyrou and then Tuch, with the hope of landing both. If that failed, they had a Plan B. If that failed, they had a Plan C. And so on."We were close to being a playoff team last year, so we were trying to get over the hump. The best way to do that was to add some top-six level forward talent. And so that was our first and foremost priority," the GM said.But Patrick was nervous. The Capitals had positioned themselves well at the trade deadline by making "hard decisions" on popular veterans such as John Carlson (traded to Anaheim) and Nic Dowd (traded to Vegas). Would it pay off months later?"My concern was that we'd make a good offer and the team would be like, 'No, we're not going to trade them' or the player would say, 'No, not Washington, somewhere else,'" he said. "And then it's like, 'Man, what else can I do? I'm doing everything I can to try to add these players and they're just not coming our way.'"The trade for Kyrou, an eight-year veteran who scored over 30 goals in three of the past four seasons, was a confidence boost for Patrick. The Capitals had been after the St. Louis forward for a while, and they weren't alone. Washington finally offered a package -- headlined by young center Connor McMichael -- that Blues GM Doug Armstrong found to his liking."Every GM is going to do their process differently. It felt like Doug was going to get the deal that he liked, and then he would go to the player and see if the city would work for them," Patrick said. "We felt like if we got a chance to pitch it to him, we could make the pitch. But I know there was definitely a risk that we could get the deal done with St. Louis and then they'd go to him and he would say, 'No, that's not where I want to go.'"(See also: Stars, Dallas; and Werenski, Zach.)Kyrou chose Washington. That was huge. Big enough that coach Spencer Carbery called Ovechkin in Russia to discuss the move, to which the Capitals captain expressed his enthusiasm.PATRICK SAID ADDING Kyrou and Tuch was a "dream scenario." Tuch also scored over 30 goals in three of the past four seasons with the Sabres. The truculent winger knew how hard the Capitals were to play against and what the atmosphere was like at home games.But to get his name on a contract, Patrick needed to dig down a few levels to explain things such as the geography of their practice rink and home arena, and what living in Washington would be like for the father of two young boys."The more research I did into the DC area and the Virginia area and bringing my wife into the fold, we just got really excited about it," Tuch said.What got him most excited was how enthusiastic Patrick and Carbery were to sign him -- enthusiastically discussing his potential role and what his skill set could do to elevate the team."I just thought that I could bring something to the table that kind of helps propel the Capitals to the ultimate goal," Tuch said.Luring Tuch to Washington was a personal victory for Patrick. Last summer, the Capitals thought they had the inside track to sign Winnipeg Jets free agent winger Nikolaj Ehlers. Patrick was stung when Ehlers decided instead to join the Carolina Hurricanes, with whom he went on to play an integral role in the run to the Stanley Cup championship. This time, Patrick reeled in free agency's big fish at forward."Yeah, it was nice," Patrick said. "It felt almost like a little bit of karma: We went through that last year, so somebody gave us a break this year."One big factor in why the Capitals attracted so much talent this offseason is the team's unofficial player ambassadors:Tuch spoke with Thompson, whom he knew from his days with the Vegas Golden Knights, and had a long phone conversation with Wilson about the team.Jenner was in touch with Dubois, whom he knew from their days with the Blue Jackets.Desharnais spoke with forward Anthony Beauvillier.Inevitably in these conversations, the topic of Carbery would come up.Carbery has earned his reputation as one of the best in the NHL, winning the Jack Adams as coach of the year in 2025. He has also earned a reputation for taking veteran players and unlocking their games, from Dubois' career renaissance in D.C. to Chychrun having his best seasons in Washington."Players are pretty perceptive. Even if they didn't have buddies on the team telling them, they see the fact that Carbs won the Jack Adams. I think just seeing the success Carbs has had and the stability in the organization helps us," said Patrick, who signed Carbery to a multiyear extension in June. "Carbs has done a great job with guys who have come here at the crossroads in their careers and then really had success."Jenner would seem like one of those players. The 13-year NHL veteran, who played all of those seasons in Columbus, had 13 goals and 25 assists in 67 games in 2025-26, two years removed from scoring 22 goals in 58 games. Like Tuch, he appreciated how hard the Capitals were to play against as a division rival. What clinched it for 33-year-old -- besides the $23 million contract -- were all the moves the Capitals had made in the past week."The team that's there, you can tell they're all-in to win, and that's really exciting for me at this point of my career," he said.Patrick praised Jenner's "solid 200-foot game," noting that he brings many of the defensive attributes that the Capitals lost when Dowd was traded. But there are also intangibles."When you have a chance to get a guy who's been a captain of a team -- and there was a couple out there this year -- you have to kind of take a serious look at it," he said. "Especially for a team that has some younger guys that are going to be important to our future to bring in a guy like that."If there was one Capitals' signing that hockey fans collectively side-eyed Wednesday, it was Jenner getting four years and $5.75 million annually against the cap at his age. But Patrick said that "it certainly felt like there were a few teams" in on him and that this was the contract necessary to win Jenner's services."You can only go off what the other side's telling you they have or might have," he said. "They won't come out and tell you this team X is offering us this, but they give you pretty strong indications. You can kind of tell when they actually have some solid offers versus teams just sniffing around, and it felt like it was a competitive situation, so we had to put our best foot forward."Washington also bid high for Desharnais, a physical defensive defenseman making $4.2 million against the cap for four seasons. The Capitals had attempted to acquire him from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline but were rebuffed by the surprise contender in the Western Conference."Another thing that Carbs had on his wish list to add this offseason was defenseman with size who could kill penalties," Patrick said. "There were a few of them out there -- some maybe more famous names than [Desharnais] -- but he's just a guy that we've liked really the last couple years."Desharnais, in turn, liked them."Every night it's hard to play against the Caps. They don't win every game, but they're hard to play against," he said.ONE OTHER THING Desharnais brings to Washington is a mercurial personality on a franchise that has seen its share of them, including that of the captain."At work, everyone has their bad days. But even if you have a bad day, you can work hard and you can put a smile on your face," Desharnais said. "So my goal is to show up in Washington, work my ass off -- sorry for my language -- and have fun every day. Just bring some good vibes, have fun, compete hard and win. Because when you win, it's even more fun."To that end, no one has more fun than Ovechkin when the Capitals are relevant and winning. Carbery has praised his captain's "infectious personality and enthusiasm." Capitals president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan said that if Ovechkin had chosen to retire, it would have left a "big hole, personality-wise and leadership-wise" for the franchise.But he's back, babes.That's exciting for the teammates who watched Ovechkin shatter Wayne Gretzky's hallowed career goals record in 2025, as well as the new colleagues who are just honored to have the chance to skate with him next season."He's such a legend. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's the greatest goal scorer ever. He's been such a great leader and brought a Stanley Cup to Washington. He's probably one of the most loved players in the game," Tuch said. "If I can learn a little bit from him, that would be incredible."
