The Capitals give Alex Ovechkin a deadline

We may know by the NHL Draft what the future holds for Alex Ovechkin.

The Washington Capitals superstar has stated that he's not sure if he wants to retire or continue his NHL career. His contract with the Capitals is up and he is taking his time this offseason to discuss his future with his family.

The problem is that the Capitals need to prepare for a busy offseason with eyes on getting back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs next season, with or without Ovechkin.

“We're giving him some time here to get away from the season a little bit and think things through and talk to his family," Capitals GM Chris Patrick told the media yesterday. "We'll continue to support him in however his decision process plays out. We'll be able to have a plan with or without him.”

Patrick then threw out the date of the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26th as a soft deadline for a decision.

“Ideally, we would know going into the draft, but again, I think he’s earned the right to do the process how he wants to, and so we’ll just work with whatever we get from him, information-wise," Patrick said. “We're in a window where we're trying to win," Patrick said. "We have a good team here, and we're hoping to add pieces. We're in a good spot cap-wise going into this offseason to have flexibility to do different things," Patrick said.

Knowing Ovechkin's decision will help Patrick make moves this offseason and, here's the thing, Patrick is looking to make some pretty big moves.

“I think we're really in the best spot we've been in as far as having the stuff to trade that a team might want. We've got picks, we've got some good prospects. There's obviously some prospects that we're not going to move in these deals," Patrick said. "From that perspective, our wallet's full. If there's an opportunity there, we'd like to jump on it.”

You in, Ovi? Or you out?