- Ovechkin drafted to Team Sergachev alongside Capitals teammate Aliaksei Protas
- The July 25 charity game leaves Moscow for St. Petersburg’s SKA Arena
- Read below for both rosters and Ovechkin’s first skate since re-signing
Alex Ovechkin knows who he’s playing with on July 25.
The Match of the Year, the annual charity game stocked with Russian and Belarusian stars from the NHL and KHL, held its player draft this week. Ovechkin landed on Team Sergachev, hosted by Utah Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, and he’ll line up with Capitals teammate Aliaksei Protas.
Organizers scrambled the format this year. Past editions threw NHL players against KHL players. This time the sides were drafted mixed, with Sergachev and Artemi Panarin picking the rosters while Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergei Fedorov worked as general managers.
Sergachev’s group also carries Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko, Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich and Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin.
Panarin countered with Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov, Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov and Flyers forward Matvei Michkov.
Ovechkin helped unveil the jerseys, too. Team Sergachev goes pink-and-purple, Panarin’s side wears turquoise and blue, and both sweaters carry the Match of the Year logo and a star pattern. The event’s Instagram account says the designs pull from the northern lights and the “scarlet sunsets of the northern capital.”
Check out the reveal:
That northern capital line is the other bit of news here. The game moves out of Moscow for the first time and lands at SKA Arena, home of KHL club SKA Saint Petersburg.
This will be Ovechkin’s first public skate since committing to a 22nd NHL season. He signed a one-year deal with Washington earlier this month, a decision that caught his own teammates off guard.
Last year’s game gave him a full night. Ovechkin was honored for breaking the NHL goals record and gifted a car, then scored in the NHL side’s 15-3 win. He also spent the first intermission operating a mounted t-shirt cannon.
