Capitals Urged to Reset Roster Amid Alex Ovechkin Rumors originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Despite finishing the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals couldn’t complete the goal of winning another Stanley Cup. Washington was bounced out in the second round of the playoffs, and they entered the offseason with a lot of questions.

One of the biggest has been around star Alex Ovechkin and his upcoming retirement. There were rumors around him retiring, but those were quickly put to bed.

But with Ovechkin still on the roster, the Capitals have to find a way to win next season.

NHL writer Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report named multiple teams that should reset their rosters if they don’t win the title this coming season. The Capitals were mentioned as one of the teams, and with the rumors around Ovechkin, things look a little bleak.

“Ovechkin will play as long as he wants to in D.C. and having a coach like Spencer Carbery helps make things a lot easier. But the plan for life after Ovechkin needs to be ready.

“If the Capitals don’t repeat their success and take it a step further to win the Stanley Cup, figuring out how to play things is a much tougher thing to do than hoping running it back works,” Yerdon wrote.

While Ovechkin isn’t retiring this season, the Capitals do need to take advantage of his final years. The veteran showed that he can still perform at a very high level, and Washington’s front office will need to maximize that fact.

Washington has a lot of pressure on it this coming season, especially after such a disappointing playoff run. If the Capitals aren’t careful, they could waste the last few productive seasons of the All-Star.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 26, 2025, where it first appeared.