{"id":779310,"date":"2026-07-23T05:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779310\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T05:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:47:10","slug":"i-had-a-sense-boone-jenner-believed-alex-ovechkin-would-return-to-capitals-after-jersey-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779310\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I had a sense\u2019: Boone Jenner believed Alex Ovechkin would return to Capitals after jersey exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boone Jenner<\/a> is pumped to join the Washington Capitals<\/a> and play alongside the NHL\u2019s greatest goal-scorer next season.<\/p>\n

After becoming an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Jenner changed teams for the first time in his 13-year career, signing a four-year, $23 million contract with the Capitals<\/a> on July 1, worth $5.75 million annually.<\/p>\n

The former Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> captain discussed his decision and his enthusiasm to join the Capitals on TSN\u2019s First Up with Korolnek and Colaiacovio<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a hard decision,\u201d Jenner said. \u201cI\u2019ve always envisioned myself always being a Columbus Blue Jacket and, obviously, being there for 13 years, but as time was kind of going on there at the end of last season and into the offseason, the reality of trying something new started to sink in. Going through the process, (it was) something I\u2019ve never done, and I know guys gotta do it once in their career, but no, it was a cool experience. \u201d<\/p>\n

Jenner, a rugged, defensively responsible center known for his faceoff ability, net-front presence, physical play, and leadership, posted 421 points (212g, 209a) during his 808 games with Columbus. While he found personal success, the team made the playoffs just five times during his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed my time in Columbus, and I can\u2019t thank that city enough for what they\u2019ve done for me,\u201d Jenner said. \u201cBut for me, it\u2019s the next chapter, and that\u2019s where my excitement is now. And that\u2019s with the Washington Capitals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenner already knew the Capitals well after spending 12 of his 13 NHL seasons in the same division and seeing Washington win the Metro six times, more than any other team. Jenner suited up against the Caps 37 different times in the regular season and played six games against them during the 2018 postseason when Washington went on to win the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a little bit about the team they have,\u201d Jenner said. \u201cIt\u2019s already a really good team. The pieces they added, the excitement of \u2018we want to win right now\u2019 is really exciting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like other players on the Caps<\/a>, Jenner was particularly impressed by the moves general manager Chris Patrick made over the offseason to turn the Capitals back into a Stanley Cup contender, adding Alex Tuch<\/a>, Jordan Kyrou<\/a>, and Vincent Desharnais<\/a>, as well as several other depth pieces to the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into free agency, you don\u2019t know what to expect,\u201d Jenner said. \u201cAnd obviously, watching the moves that Washington\u2019s making at the draft and getting Tuch, getting Kyrou, and different things, and when they call, it\u2019s super exciting. So I couldn\u2019t be more excited to join that group. I\u2019ve heard nothing but great things, know a couple of the guys. So I can\u2019t wait to get down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenner previously played with Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> on the Blue Jackets for three full seasons and part of a fourth \u2014 2017\u201318, 2018\u201319, 2019\u201320, and the first five games of 2020\u201321 \u2014 before Columbus dealt PLD to the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> on January 23, 2021. Over the years, Jenner also became friends with Tom Wilson<\/a> \u2014 though they\u2019ve had an intense rivalry on the ice at times \u2014 as well as Jordan Kyrou.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cKyrou, we got together in London (Ontario) a little bit,\u201d Jenner explained. \u201cHe\u2019s up in Toronto now, but when he was back in London in the summers, we\u2019d work out. I know Tom Wilson, just from playing against each other, being at certain events, and kind of growing up, playing against each other, I guess, our whole careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the players Jenner has pre-existing connections with, he was also excited to play with Alex Ovechkin<\/a>, whom he met briefly at the end of last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met him once,\u201d Jenner said. \u201cActually, it was kind of funny. We did like a little jersey exchange at the end of last year. It was the last game of the regular season for both of us. So obviously everyone was like not sure if it was his last year. \u201d<\/p>\n

The game was played on April 14 at Nationwide Arena, with Washington winning the game 2-1. Ovechkin, who had been swapping jerseys with fellow stars and captains across the league<\/a>, exchanged sweaters with Jenner privately afterward. At that point, Ovechkin had not yet decided if he was going to retire or play another season, giving the game an air of importance, especially with a throng of traveling Capitals fans cheering and chanting Ovi on.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

\"RMNB\"<\/p>\n

Although Ovechkin\u2019s return was not confirmed when Jenner joined the team \u2014 Ovechkin signed on July 2<\/a>, the day after Jenner did \u2014 he was not surprised that The Great 8 decided to return for another year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a sense, leaving that small, short interaction with him, that he was coming back,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously [he\u2019s] one of the greatest goal scorers of all time and one of the best players to ever play the game,\u201d Jenner continued. \u201cHow can you not be excited to play with him?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boone Jenner is pumped to join the Washington Capitals and play alongside the NHL\u2019s greatest goal-scorer next season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-779310","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\/779310","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=779310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}