Star-Studded Tribute Honors Legends' Impact

Ovechkin has yet to say whether this is it or if he wants to play again in 2026-27, so the front office is planning for either contingency. While doing so, Washington is ushering in a youth movement on the fly, with the trade of 36-year-old organizational cornerstone John Carlson the latest step in turning the page on a generation of players responsible for not only a championship but 16 playoff appearances in 18 seasons. Gone are longtime No.

1 center Nicklas Backstrom , do-it-all winger T. J. Oshie , goaltender Braden Holtby and now Carlson, who has been the team's top defenseman almost from the time he made his debut.

“They’re these guys (who go from) sometimes they don’t even have a shaving kit to getting married and having families and having the careers that they’re having,” assistant general manager Ross Mahoney said in a phone interview. “Things don’t last forever. ” Capitals are building around a new core The Capitals have done something rare in the NHL since the salary cap era began in 2005: replenish talent while consistently contending.

Brian MacLellan, the general manager from 2014-24, and successor Chris Patrick have simultaneously bought and sold at times and made some shrewd offseason trades and free agent signings along the way. The result is a new core of players in their mid-to-late 20s and early 30s, all signed through at least 2029: goalie Logan Thompson, defensemen Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy and Martin Fehervary, and forwards Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, the latter of whom is likely to succeed Ovechkin as captain. “That’s a pretty good starting point for a competitive team, a Stanley Cup-winning team,” Patrick said.