EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsIt's no longer enough to draft a franchise player. Now you have to keep him.Across hockey, you'll often hear the adage: "Even Wayne Gretzky was traded." But today's NHL has entered a new era -- one in which stars have more influence and more tools than ever to shape where they play. Brady Tkachuk forced his way to Florida. Quinn Hughes' future dominated league conversations before he landed in Minnesota. Dylan Larkin's trade request from Detroit is the latest reminder that franchise players expect a say in how their careers unfold."I think some organizations aren't lining up with the timeline of certain players," said Brian MacLellan, president of hockey operations for the Washington Capitals. "You have a little bit of a mismatch and I think people are more assertive about going about it now. I think sometimes it's fair for a player to decide that."Which makes Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin feel increasingly like exceptions.Twenty-one seasons after arriving as the No. 1 pick, Ovechkin signed another one-year contract this summer, extending one of the longest player-franchise relationships in modern professional sports.How do you build an organization a superstar never wants to leave? From the outside, the explanation seems simple: loyalty, and of course, winning.But after talking with the people who built that relationship, another answer kept surfacing: trust."In the beginning we had to earn his trust," MacLellan said. "I think we have it now."WASHINGTON WASN'T SEARCHING for its next superstar in 2004; the franchise was desperate for relevance. The Capitals had just torn down their roster after a failed attempt to shortcut contention with Jaromir Jagr."He was the highest-paid player in the league and he didn't like Washington, he didn't like the team, he didn't like much of anything," owner Ted Leonsis recalled. "We ended up trading him to New York. That was painful because it was our shot to go from a middling team to a great one. There was no real buzz. There was no excitement. There was no global or national attention on us. Our business was not strong."The Capitals practiced in Piney Orchard, a public rink outside Baltimore that Leonsis readily acknowledges wasn't close to NHL caliber.Then the Capitals won the 2004 draft lottery. The scouting presentation wasn't flashy. Grainy DVDs shipped from Russia flickered across a television as the hockey staff walked Leonsis through the teenager they believed could change the franchise.The summer after the draft, Leonsis invited Ovechkin to his house for a barbecue. Leonsis, the son of Greek immigrants, values family over everything. It didn't take long for Leonsis to realize Ovechkin, who grew up in Moscow, felt the same way. They spent the afternoon swimming, playing basketball with Leonsis' children and chasing the family dogs around the backyard."And he felt at home immediately because that's what his life is like growing up," Leonsis said.Leonsis told Ovechkin: "The reason we were able to draft you is because we're not a very good team." Then came the promise: Washington wouldn't become great overnight. But the facilities would improve, and the organization would keep investing until it was worthy of its new franchise player.Capitals general manager Chris Patrick said he believed that first conversation established the relationship that followed."Ted was still a relatively new owner when we drafted Alex. Ted has been really good to Alex and good to his family, and I think Alex really respects Ted for that," Patrick said. "There's a mutual respect for each other's worlds and where they fit in the organization."THREE YEARS LATER came a pivotal moment. As Ovechkin and Crosby began to dominate the league, most expected Ovechkin's second contract to look like the one his rival had just signed: five years, $43.5 million.Instead, longtime executive Dick Patrick walked into Leonsis' office with a different idea."If this kid keeps playing the way he's playing," Patrick told him, "the next time he's a free agent, Montreal, Toronto, New York -- everybody's going to want him."Rather than negotiate another bridge contract, the Capitals offered Ovechkin his unrestricted free agent deal years before he ever reached free agency: 13 years and the opportunity to become the NHL's first $100 million player.Leonsis pitched it as not only security for the player but stability for the franchise."We're committing this to you," he recalled telling Ovechkin.Leonsis remembers stepping up to the podium in 2008 at a news conference. He announced Ovechkin wasn't signing for five years. He was signing for 13."The place went crazy," Leonsis said. "We had permission to believe that we can be a great sports organization and a great city."By the time Tom Wilson was drafted in 2012, the organization was beginning to resemble the one Leonsis had promised Ovechkin eight years earlier.The day before the draft, Wilson had second interviews with a handful of teams. Longtime scout Ross Mahoney, who still runs the Capitals draft, greeted Wilson. Mahoney could sense his energy."He said, 'Hey, Tom, you're an honest player. We love your game. Just be yourself,'" Wilson recalled. "And I remember that so vividly because in a world of intimidation and you're a 17-year-old kid and who knows what's going to happen and all that, I remember being able to take a breath and being like, 'Wow.' And I remember that about Washington and I don't remember much about other teams."RELATIONSHIPS AREN'T TESTED when everything is working -- they're tested when nothing is. The Capitals emerged as one of the league's best teams under Ovechkin, his longtime linemate Nicklas Backstrom and defenseman John Carlson. They were able to lure key free agents and trade for veterans to supplement the homegrown talent. They won the Presidents' Trophy three times in a seven-year span. They geared up for long Stanley Cup runs. And then they lost to Pittsburgh in the playoffs, again and again.The outside noise grew louder. Was Ovechkin incapable of winning? Should Washington break up its core? Should its captain look elsewhere?"There was tension," MacLellan acknowledged. "It was teetering. The year before we won, we were on the brink of making a lot of changes."Leonsis said he felt his own pressure."I did not want to be the owner who couldn't win a Stanley Cup with Alex Ovechkin," he said. "I did not want Alex later in his career to come to me and say, 'You have to trade me.'"Wilson said he knows just how easily the story could have ended differently."There were a couple years there where it got tough and everyone started pointing fingers at each other. Ovi easily could have said, 'All right, I'm out. I'll go somewhere else,' But in his mind, I think he was always seeing it through," Wilson said."That's so rare nowadays to have the belief in yourself and your city and your organization to be able to go through those tough times and be on some bad teams. And what a great feeling when you finally get it done. That's legendary status. If you go chase a championship and get it in another city, yeah, you're a Stanley Cup winner, but you're maybe not a legend."MACLELLAN INSISTS THOSE years before Washington's 2018 Stanley Cup fundamentally shaped the relationship -- but behind the scenes, they still were earning Ovechkin's trust.Every major organizational decision required another conversation. A few times a season, the front office executives meet privately with Ovechkin -- not to ask permission, but to explain the team's thinking.The conversation included: "What type of player do you think we need?" "Here's what's available." "Here's why we made this move.""We don't always agree," MacLellan said. "But the communication's always been there."The same approach became especially important during the moments most likely to fracture the relationship.The Capitals traded Dmitry Orlov, one of Ovechkin's closest friends, in 2023.This past season, they traded Carlson -- who had spent 17 years with the organization, and was the team's second-longest tenured player -- while sitting only four points out of a playoff spot.The moves rattled Ovechkin. In their meeting, MacLellan said the front office told Ovechkin: "We're not packing it in here. We're just reloading. Let's see what we do on July 1."At 40, his contract was expiring. For the first time in years, the question wasn't whether he could still play, it was whether he would keep playing in Washington.After the Capitals missed the playoffs, Ovechkin said his decision would come down to three things: family, health and the chance to win another Stanley Cup.THE PAST FEW months, the Capitals had to imagine something they had spent more than two decades avoiding."This was the first time in a while -- maybe the first time ever -- that we went into an offseason planning a with-Alex and without-Alex scenario," Patrick said. "Yeah, it was definitely kind of surreal to say it."Washington acted aggressively. The Capitals traded for crafty winger Jordan Kyrou, inked veteran Alex Tuch to an eight-year deal and signed former Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner in free agency.That helped Ovechkin decide he wanted to play in Washington for his 22nd season. Ovechkin called Patrick the day after free agency opened, and they hammered out a new contract in "about 10 minutes," per Ovechkin."I'm very excited for the team and for the fans as well because on paper, you can see our team is one of the best teams," Ovechkin said. "But now we have to work for the Stanley Cup, for the playoffs first and then the Stanley Cup."The Capitals know they'll never replace Ovechkin. The harder challenge is making sure the next franchise player never feels the need to leave. Wilson already sees that responsibility as his own. Wilson talks openly about wanting Ryan Leonard, Cole Hutson and the next generation to feel what he felt when he arrived."I hope those guys want to play in D.C. for their entire careers," Wilson said. "I learned that from Ovi."
