Ted Leonsis: No Rebuild With Ovechkin
Alexander Ovechkin may be the only thing preventing World War 3 at this point. It’s good for the universe to have Russia’s greatest athlete of all-time thriving in America’s capital. Before I get too weird, don’t worry, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has no plans on rocking the boat. As long as Ovechkin is on the roster, there is no reason to rebuild. Especially with Ovechkin chasing the goal scoring record.
“I’m not gonna do what I did last time and trade everybody,” Leonsis told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski.
“I’m sure there’ll be an influx of some young players, but we’re not gonna rebuild the team,” he added. “To me, a rebuild is when you look the players, the coaches, the fans in the eye and say we’re gonna be really, really bad. And if we were really, really bad, I don’t think Alex would break the record.”
For everything that Ovechkin has done for this franchise, this is the correct response. Tearing the team down to nothing would absolutely affect Ovechkin’s ability to break the record. Ovie is still elite as it gets too scoring another 17 goals in 30 games this season. If you have even an average team around him, you’re going to be in the mix. He’s that good.
Ovechkin, 37, is up to 797 goals for his career. He’s five away from passing Gordie Howe for second all-time. The Capitals captain needs 98 more to pass Wayne Gretzky. If Leonsis had said anything about a rebuild, I think hockey fans around the world would have rioted. We all need to witness history.
