The Capitals are confident that they will have a firm answer on Alex Ovechkin’s plans sooner than later, GM Chris Patrick told reporters including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. While Patrick isn’t sure what way the 40-year-old is leaning, he has an idea of what the captain would be looking for if he opts to return for a 22nd season. While Washington has had a particularly busy offseason thus far with the additions of Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, they still have ample cap space to accommodate a market-value deal for Ovechkin with more than $14MM in cap room, per PuckPedia. With free agency officially opening up on Wednesday, the Capitals are certainly hoping they’ll have further clarity on Ovechkin’s status by then.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Also from Silber (Twitter link), the Capitals have had some talks about re-signing pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and winger Brandon Duhaime. Washington already has seven blueliners signed for next season so if they were to bring van Riemsdyk back, it would likely need to be at a discount with an eye on having him in a more limited role. As for Duhaime, he’s coming off a rough year that saw him record just nine points and it wouldn’t be surprising if he had better offers than what he’d likely receive to stay in Washington.
- Seth Jarvis wasn’t the only Hurricanes forward to recently undergo Team reporter Peter Dewar relays that winger Eric Robinson underwent knee surgery and is expected to be cleared for on-ice activity in six to eight weeks. Assuming there are no hiccups in his recovery, the 31-year-old should be ready to return by the start of training camp. Robinson had 18 points in 67 games during the regular season but was a bit more productive in the postseason, recording eight points in their 19 contests.
- The Penguins have issued qualifying offers to six of their seven pending restricted free agents, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The lone player who won’t be receiving one is goaltender Filip Lindberg. The 27-year-old hasn’t played in Pittsburgh’s system for the last three seasons and is already signed to play in the Slovak Extraliga next season.
