Alex Ovechkin has arrived in Las Vegas to pick up his fourth Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal scorer.
But before getting all dressed up for Tuesday night’s star-studded affair, the Caps’ 28-year-old captain met with Barry Trotz for the first time since Trotz was named head coach of the Capitals on May 26.
The two had dinner in Vegas over the weekend. In an interview with Monumental Network’s Mike Vogel, Ovechkin said he hopes to have a long working relationship with Trotz, his fourth coach in three years following the departures of Bruce Boudreau, Dale Hunter and Adam Oates.
“He’s a pretty straight coach and a pretty straight man,” Ovechkin said of Trotz. “If he wants to say something, he will.”
“We’ll see how it goes. I hope we’re going to work together a long time and I was enjoying spending time with him.”
One of the key decisions regarding Ovechkin is whether he will remain at right wing, where he rediscovered his scoring touch with 83 goals in his past two seasons under Oates.
The Caps have better depth on the right wing than on the left, which could mean a move back to left wing for Ovechkin, who recorded 40 or more goals in five straight seasons there before his production fell to 32 goals and 38 goals under Boudreau and Hunter in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Asked which side he’d prefer to play next season, Ovechkin smiled and said, “Well, I’m going to be goalie and I’m going to win the Rocket Richard again, so I feel pretty good about myself.”
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