Washington GM wants Alex Ovechkin to finish career with Capitals

Players are rarely one-club men across most sports in the modern era. Quarterback Tom Brady broke up with the New England Patriots and then guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title. LeBron James twice left the Cleveland Cavaliers. Small-market MLB teams such as the Cleveland Indians can retain All-Stars like shortstop Francisco Lindor only for so long. 

Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan is hoping superstar and captain Alex Ovechkin will stay put through the end of his playing days. 

"I don't really have an update," MacLellan said of the one-time Stanley Cup champion set to be out of contract after this season, per Tom Gulitti of the NHL's official website. "It's the same as it's been all year. We want him to finish his career here, and I think he wants to finish his career here, and at some point we'll get it done." 

MacLellan continued: "We've just got to find a sweet spot that we agree on." 

The future Hall of Famer is playing out the remaining months of a 13-year, $124 million contract extension he signed in January 2008 and is negotiating without an agent as he did 13 years ago. The 35-year-old is widely viewed as one of the greatest forwards in history, but the Capitals, like the majority of professional sports clubs around the world, are facing financial burdens caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

MacLellan also raised eyes when he verbally opened the door for the return of veteran goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has been out since before the season with a heart condition that caused him to undergo open-heart surgery in early January.