Alex Ovechkin ‘not even thinking’ about an extension as Capitals training camp begins

In a normal year, July 1 is the start of the NHL's league year. That is when free agency begins because it is when all expiring contracts have officially expired. It is also the day when players with one year remaining on their contracts can sign an extension.

As we all know, 2020 is not a normal year. Alex Ovechkin is on the final year of his contract, but with the 2019-20 season on pause, July 1 came and went with no fanfare and no talk about an extension for the best player in franchise history. Like the season itself, all such business was paused. After a new CBA was ratified by the league and the players, however, July 13 became the new day when players could sign extensions. That possibility seems to be nowhere on the mind of Ovechkin who has his sights set clearly on a second Stanely Cup.

Training camps began across the league on Monday as the NHL transitioned to Phase 3 of its return to play plan. After his first practice back, Ovechkin spoke with the media via Zoom and dismissed a question about a contract extension.

"Not even talking, not even thinking about it because right now we have lots of stuff to do," he said.

A flat salary cap for at least next year and likely the next two or three seasons makes it difficult to offer a long-term, big-money contract. For a player like Ovechkin, an exception will almost certainly be made, but that does not mean the process has not suddenly become much more complicated. Trying to fit a cap hit of somewhere around $9 or 10 million in addition to the several contracts already on the books is a daunting task for a veteran-heavy team. A flat cap means that long-term deals for older players won't take up a smaller percentage of the cap with every passing year.

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Considering this, it's not surprising that this is an issue Ovechkin does not want to think about right now. While there was no guarantee Ovechkin would have re-signed on July 1 in a normal year, it seems unlikely the month of July would have passed by without the captain and future Hall-of-Famer putting pen to paper on a new contract. But that process is now much more complicated and Ovechkin just wants to focus on the task of winning a Cup.

"For us, for every team, every player wants to play for a Cup, right?" Ovechkin said. "We have that opportunity right now to go back and hope we going to win. Obviously, if you look at our roster, we have very good group of guys, experienced guys and talented guys. I'm looking forward to it."

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