The 37-year-old returned to the United States this past weekend and is on the ice with the Capitals.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals have their captain back.
Alex Ovechkin has officially joined the team for informal skates at MedStar Capitals Iceplex and took the ice for the first time on Tuesday. He returned to the United States on Saturday.
Ovechkin joins Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Darcy Kuemper, Alex Alexeyev, T.J. Oshie, Dylan Strome, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nic Dowd, Joel Edmundson, Nick Jensen, Vincent Iorio, Andrew Cristall, Lucas Johansen, Joe Snively, Alexander Suzdalev, Alex Limoges and more as those who have returned to get some work in before camp, which kicks off on the ice on Sept. 21.
Players did routine drills and also scrimmaged before getting some informal work done. Backstrom and Dowd emphasized one-timers at the end of the skate, while Edmundson and Strome worked on their skating with suicides up and down the ice.
The 37-year-old is looking to follow up on his record-breaking 13th 40-goal season and sits 73 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record.
Both Ovechkin and Backstrom looked strong at the informal skates, having benefitted from lengthy offseasons that allowed both more time to recover from last year and train.
Ovechkin dealt with a myriad of upper and lower-body ailments over the course of the 2022-23 campaign while also coping with the death of his father. He missed a total of nine games but still managed 42 goals.
Meanwhile, Backstrom was still rehabbing and getting back in the rhythm following hip resurfacing surgery last summer. He is coming up on the biggest training camp of his life, where he will have to prove to general manager Brian MacLellan that he can still be a top contributor and full-time NHL center.
Following a rough finish to last season, MacLellan questioned how much better Backstrom would get after the surgery and speculated that he'd have to decide on his career. However, Backstrom will be able to show what he can do at camp. The Swede is optimistic, stating that he's pain-free and that a full summer of training — rather than rehabilitating as he had been doing for several years — would work wonders.
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Dowd is also back skating in D.C. after having core surgery this summer. Oshie is also back on the ice and looks good after dealing with back issues last year.
The informal skates took place ahead of the annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase, where Connor Bedard and more top prospects get their trading card photos taken before hitting the ice for a fun scrimmage between the up-and-coming stars. Iorio is the Capitals' representative.