Have you ever played the game “would you rather”? Would you rather win a Stanley Cup or be the highest paid player on your team?
Well Alex Ovechkin chose money over another shot at the Cup. Ovi just inked a 4-year, $9.5 million AAV contract with the Caps taking up 11.7% of their salary cap.
The Capitals currently have $2.6 million in cap space available while only having 12 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 1 goalie signed to the roster.
Ovechkin is arguably the best natural goal scorer to ever play the game and is only 164 g-notes behind catching Wayne Gretzky for all-time career goals scored.
Does he deserve the money? Of course! But with the flat cap, don’t you think it would be more important to take a team friendly discount in order to lock in a few more key pieces around you? For example, a solid #1 goalie?
Ovi’s career earnings are north of $120 million. Do you really need to make another $38 million? Why not take a $6.5 million dollar deal and help lock in some pieces around you to help win? Especially at 35 years old.
Add to it the drop in production from Ovechkin in last year’s shortened season. Last year he only scored 24 G and 42 P in 45 games versus the NHL Lockout of 2012 where he was able to score 32G and 56 P in 48 games. With things returning to normal, will we see Ovi pick it back up? For $9.5 million, he better!
What are the Caps going to do regarding the goalie situation? How much is Samsonov going to ask for?
I am sorry, but I don’t see how a team can win the Cup when it has 4 players locking up 42.4% of the salary cap:
- Ovechkin – $9.5 AAV – 11.7%
- Backstrom – $9.2 AAV – 11.3%
- Carlson – $8 AAV – 9.8%
- Kuznetsov – $7.8 AAV – 9.6%
While Ovi’s $9.5 million contract only has him tied for 15th amongst the largest NHL contracts, I would like to pose the question, how many Cups do the Leafs have with the Matthews, Marner, and Tavares contracts? How about the Panthers with Boobtitsky’s contract?
If you want to win the Cup, you have to spread the wealth and build a deep team.