{"id":647323,"date":"2026-05-16T20:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647323\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T20:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:22:08","slug":"spencer-carbery-on-how-he-is-preparing-for-next-season-with-alex-ovechkins-future-still-up-in-the-air-im-sort-of-planning-for-two-different-scenarios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647323\/","title":{"rendered":"Spencer Carbery on how he is preparing for next season with Alex Ovechkin\u2019s future still up in the air: \u2018I\u2019m sort of planning for two different scenarios\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no question that the number-one storyline hanging over the Washington Capitals<\/a> this summer is the future of legendary captain Alex Ovechkin<\/a>. The 40-year-old winger is set to determine if he will be back for another season in DC, or if he will call it quits on a historic 21-season NHL career.<\/p>\n

But while Ovechkin takes time to make that all-important decision, the hockey world doesn\u2019t just stop moving, and the Capitals need to keep up with the rest of the pack. Caps head coach Spencer Carbery was recently asked on The FAN Hockey Show<\/a> how he is preparing for the 2026-27 campaign, with Ovechkin\u2019s ultimate decision still hanging in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, and that\u2019s where we\u2019ve tried to give O, especially early right now with the playoffs still going on, as much space as he needs,\u201d Carbery said<\/a>. \u201cTo be with his family, to be able to really take a minute to step back and reflect, and that\u2019s the way the organization is approaching that, that\u2019s how I\u2019ll approach it now. With regards to planning \u2013 what\u2019s it going to look like, what\u2019s our power play look like, what\u2019s our lines look like, there\u2019s no time frame on it, but yeah, I\u2019m sort of planning for two different scenarios as we speak right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the emotional aspect of potentially losing the team\u2019s focal point for the past two decades and their locker-room leader, the Capitals would have to drastically reshape many aspects of how they operate on a game-by-game basis. Ovechkin averaged 17:27 of ice time per game last season, fourth most among all Capitals forwards. He was also again a constant on both of the team\u2019s power-play units, averaging a league-high 4:29 of power-play ice time per game.<\/p>\n

Ovechkin and his family departed the DC area and returned to his hometown, Moscow, Russia, earlier this week<\/a>. He will officially become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but the Capitals\u00a0are expected to want an answer from the 40-year-old winger before then<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given that the NHL Draft begins on June 26 and the Capitals own two first-round picks this year, the artificial deadline for Ovechkin\u2019s decision will likely be shortly before then, as the team explores roster moves that could impact their draft selections. General manager Chris Patrick has already made it clear that he\u2019s seeking an upgrade to the team\u2019s top-six forward group<\/a>, and, like Carbery, has indicated that the organization has further plans in place if Ovechkin does not return for another year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last month, hockey insider Elliotte Friedman revealed his belief<\/a> that the impressive debuts of young players like Cole Hutson<\/a> and Ilya Protas<\/a> may fuel Ovechkin\u2019s desire to return for another year with the Capitals. Carbery was also questioned about whether he thought the team\u2019s ongoing youth movement could play into Ovechkin wanting one more kick at the can.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I really think that has helped him the last couple of years of seeing this youth movement start to come alive in Washington,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cAnd as we get younger and as we sort of look forward to what the post-Ovi era looks like, that has given him a little bit of energy and a boost at times. Just kind of seeing how much enthusiasm those young kids have and coming in, the skill level that they have. There\u2019s no doubt that\u2019s helped a little bit, as O has played the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ovechkin\u00a0stated on Breakdown Day<\/a> that he was \u201cpretty sure\u201d that he hadn\u2019t played his last game in the NHL. Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but it\u2019s clear that the Capitals won\u2019t be caught unprepared for either scenario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is no question that the number-one storyline hanging over the Washington Capitals this summer is the future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-647323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}