- Capitals GM Chris Patrick says he’s still confident Washington can fit Alex Ovechkin under the cap
- Performance bonuses on an over-35 deal are the biggest lever, much like Evgeni Malkin’s new Penguins contract
- Read below for what Patrick told ESPN and why Darren Dreger isn’t buying it
The Capitals spent big on the first day of free agency, and it left plenty of people wondering how Alex Ovechkin fits into the math.
Washington general manager Chris Patrick isn’t worried about it.
Patrick told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski on Wednesday night that the team’s spending spree won’t get in the way of re-signing its captain.
“There are enough levers for us to pull,” Patrick said. “I think that we can do something that would work for him.”
The spending started early, with center Boone Jenner (four years, $23 million) and defenseman Vincent Desharnais (four years, $16.8 million) both signing before the depth moves. Those deals left the Caps with roughly $4.4 million in projected cap space.
So how do they fit a 40-year-old winger who still wants a real payday? Bonuses.
Ovechkin qualifies for a performance-bonus deal as a player over 35 signing for one year, and those bonuses don’t have to count against this season’s cap. Patrick pointed to Evgeni Malkin’s new contract in Pittsburgh as the template: a $5.5 million cap hit that can pay out up to $9 million once the bonuses kick in.
Patrick laid out the thinking behind that structure.
“There are ways to get him the money that he needs because of his age and the kind of contracts you can do,” Patrick said.
Not everyone is sold. Darren Dreger said Wednesday on TSN’s OverDrive that all of Washington’s activity might point the other way.
“Just how active Chris Patrick and the Capitals have been, all indications are he’s not returning,” Dreger said.
Catch the full OverDrive segment:
Money was never the sticking point for Ovechkin anyway. He’s said he wants to win, and he wanted to see what the front office did this summer before making a call. The Caps answered by trading for Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch, two wingers who have hit 30 goals.
Ovechkin already hit free agency for the first time in 21 years when the market opened. Patrick says the next move is a conversation.
“We’ve done the big moves for the NHL club,” Patrick said. “We can talk about where we’re at and where his head’s at, and if he does come back, what the contract looks like.”
