Thursday morning, a report surfaced from Russian sportswriter Slava Malamud regarding Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin‘s supposed intent to leave the NHL and play overseas in his native country’s Kontinental Hockey League.
Dynamo Moscow boss Arkady Rotenberg has told Sportbox.ru “there is desire on (Ovechkin’s) part” to return to the KHL. #Caps
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) November 13, 2014
The interview that Sportbox.ru conducted with Rotenberg reads as follows (courtesy of Russian Machine Never Breaks, translated by Fedor Fedin):
“KHL president Alexander Medvedev said that Ovechkin’s return from the NHL is possible. Is it true?
Arkady Rotenberg: Yes, of course. But the thing is that in the NHL, he’s recognizable, he’s a star. People go to see Ovechkin, wear Ovechkin jerseys. For the NHL he’s not just a great famous athlete, but he also fills the cash desk, he makes money. That’s why it’s difficult to get him out of there. But in principle, it’s possible. We have the desire to do it and he does too. When will it happen? I don’t want to spoil anything, let him just play while he does. He has a contract and the one that is so strict that’s it’s almost impossible to void. Everything has to be put on the line and there’s no need to do that for now. Let’s wait.”
While this may be alarming to some not familiar with the situation, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen these types of rumors. The KHL, a direct competitor to the NHL, has made its living off of poaching North America’s league for European-born players and luring them back to their hometowns with obscene amounts of money.
Ilya Kovalchuck, another Russian native, “retired” from the NHL last summer in order to play for the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. In doing so, he voided the 15-year, $100 million contract that he signed with the New Jersey Devils in 2010. In the process, he left 12 years and $77 million on the table. Understandably, this was a major concern for the National Hockey League. Kovalchuck, like Ovechkin, was a brand-name superstar. It didn’t matter whether you were a fan of the Devils or not, you appreciated the incredible talent he displayed on a night-to-night basis regardless.
With the massive success of stealing Kovalchuck away, the KHL has consistently pursued various other Russian-born players such as Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin and, you guessed it, Alex Ovechkin. Ever since he played for Dynamo Moscow during the 2012-13 NHL lockout, there has been rising interest in tempting him to abandon his obligations in D.C. As a result, there have been numerous rumors prior to this one that have alluded to Ovechkin’s eventual return to Europe. Coincidentally, each and every one of those rumors was sourced to an individual associated with the KHL. Ovechkin, on multiple occasions, has openly denied them, which is somewhat relieving for Capitals fans.
Yet, while this most recent rumor appears to be just as falsified as the rest, the slightest thought of Ovechkin leaving the NHL is earth shattering for the hockey world. For myself, as a fan of him personally as well as of Washington’s organization as a whole, I sincerely hope that notion never becomes a reality.
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