5 reasons the Capitals won’t trade Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin IS the Washington Capitals. The Washington Capitals ARE Alex Ovechkin. That’s just thaw it’s ben ever since the Russian sniper broke into the NHL over a decade ago. But as good as Ovechkin has been during the regular season, he’s never managed to get his team over the hump in the playoffs and some believe that a significant culture change has to take place in DC before the Caps can finally achieve greatness. The best way to change the culture? Trade away their best player and all-time leading scorer. Duh. 

Trading Ovechkin is not that easy and, frankly, probably not that smart. Here are five reasons why the Caps WILL NOT trade their superstar this offseason:

1. 9.5 million reasons - Ovechkin’s massive, 13 year, $124 million contract comes with an annual cap hit of over $9.5 million. There aren’t many teams with the cap space to fit in such a large number, even fewer with the ability to come up with the trade assets required to facilitate such an enormous transaction.
2. No-trade clause - About that massive contract: it also contains a no-trade clause. This means that the list of potential suitors is diminished even further because Ovechkin has reserved the right to decline a trade to any team on his 10 team “no fly “ list.
3. Vegas is a pipe dream - Hey Vegas has cap space and Ovechkin seems like the type of guy who’d thrive in a low pressure situation, right? Not so fast. What could Vegas possibly give the Capitals in return for their franchise player? The expansion team currently has only two players on their roster and I don’t think Caps fans would be too excited about a return of Reid Duke and Vadim Shipachev for their all time greatest player.
4. He’s still Alex Ovechkin - Despite the valid criticism surrounding Ovechkin’s game, he’s still an outstanding hockey player. In an off year he still managed 33 goals and 69 points in 82 games. Many teams would kill to have that kind of production from an “underachieving” player.
5. He’s not the problem - With 46 goals and 90 points in 97 career playoff games, it’s mind boggling that Ovechkin still receives criticism for his postseason play. The mercurial Russian is a lightning rod for criticism, but fans and analysts need to do a better job of looking past Ovechkin when analyzing the Caps’ failures.

For better or worse, through sickness and in health, the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin are stuck with each other. At this point the only question is whether or not they live happily ever after.