The Washington Capitals power play is in for some big changes going into the 2026-27 campaign, as Ray Bennett takes over the man advantage and several new names join the mix.
All the while, Alex Ovechkin will be waiting patiently to see what his role is, and noted that it may very well change from the standard it's been over the last handful of years.
Ovechkin said in a new interview with FONBET that he was playing on both power-play units mainly to give the team another right-handed shooting option.
"At first, it was me (and John Carlson), (Dylan) Strome and the rest — we didn't have a right-hander," Ovechkin explained, per a DeepL translation via sports.ru. "That's why I had to play on two power-play units."
Ovechkin led the league in power-play ice time last season (4:29 minutes per game, 367:51 total), and was on the ice for 91.6 percent of the team's time on the power play per night.
He had five goals and 14 assists for 19 points on the man advantage last season, as D.C.'s power play struggled with a 17.8 percent success rate.
While Ovechkin, the league's all-time goals and power-play goals leader, is still ready to play whatever role's asked of him, the additions of Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch, as well as the continued rise of young stars in Ryan Leonard, Ilya Protas and Cole Hutson, give the team more options to work with up front.
"We've signed a lot of great players now, but I haven't talked to (Bennett) yet. We'll see how it goes," Ovechkin said.
That said, Ovechkin is still a capable, proven scorer, having led the team with 32 goals and 64 points while appearing in all 82 games last season, and Spencer Carbery believes he'll continue to play a pivotal role for D.C. this season.
Ovechkin, who turns 41 in September, is still a capable scorer, having led the Capitals with 32 goals and 64 points in 82 games as he returns on a one-year contract.
"He can still continue to defy odds and be a very productive, good NHL player for the Washington Capitals, and help us win a lot of hockey games," Carbery said. "That's the way that I see it going, and then also continue to be the leader that he's been through his career as our captain, and continue to help a winning team, hopefully a playoff team, and young players inside of that continue to grow their game and develop and get to the next level."
