Capitals star Alex Ovechkin and owner Ted Leonsis have a similar regret over the contract that made the Russian star the first NHL player to cross the $100 million mark.
In 2008, Ovechkin signed a 13-year, $124 million contract that effectively guaranteed he would be the face of the franchise. From an outside perspective, the deal — specifically the length — carried plenty of risk.
“If I take that time back I would sign for 16 years if I would know the situation that happened,” Ovechkin said.
“Yeah, my regret is it wasn’t a 15-year contract,” Leonsis said.
Ten years later, Ovechkin has not only aged well — he’s transformed the District’s relationship with his sport.
And on Sunday (barring an injury Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes) he’ll become the franchise’s first player to play 1,000 games in a Capitals uniform.
Fittingly, his 1000th game will come against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team responsible for providing so much heartbreak to Ovechkin and the Capitals.
For all the playoff pain, Ovechkin said he’s proud to be with the Capitals.
“I was lucky to be drafted here,” Ovechkin said. “Right away, I feel this is my second home. The organization, the fans, the community has been great for me. It’s nice to play for one team that long time and be able to stay healthy and be able to do all these things together.”
Time, Ovechkin said, has flown by. Drafted No. 1 overall in 2004, Ovechkin didn’t join the Capitals until the 2005-06 campaign, the first season after the lockout.
Everything was new then. Ovechkin, who didn’t speak English, lived with then-general manager George McPhee.
He would input directions on his GPS to the team’s arena every time, despite living five minutes away.
Capitals fans were as unfamiliar as the streets. Attendance hovered below 14,000 for his first two years — which is still the franchise’s lowest average since moving to Capital One Arena in 1997.
But Ovechkin’s play — his electric one-timer — drew fans in, and the Capitals started to win, sneaking into the 2008 playoffs by taking 11 of their last 12.
Leonsis said he’ll never forget the first playoff game with Ovechkin. The team put out a voicemail blast — remember, it was 2008 — urging fans to wear red for their home playoff game against the Flyers.
By the time the game started, the stands were awash in red.
“I think what activated that permission to believe and become a part of something was Alex’s long-term commitment to the team,” Leonsis said.
Ovechkin and the Capitals agreed to his extension earlier that year at a season-ticket holder party in January. His teammates didn’t know about the deal until Leonsis announced it on stage.
“The whole building was just rocking,” Nicklas Backstrom said.
Ovechkin was comfortable giving up his right to free agency. And the contract, even today, puts him among the top-10 highest-paid players in the league. Only three — Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar — carry a higher cap hit.
But not everyone agreed with the move.
Leonsis, who also owns the Wizards, got a call from then-NBA commissioner David Stern.
“He said, I think it was, ’I thought you were a smart guy and that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen,’” Leonsis said. “’How will the player stay motivated and what is the incentive if you’re not playing for your next contract?’”
But Ovechkin has never given Leonsis reason to regret the long-term deal. This year, he rebounded from a disappointing 2016-17 in which he scored “only” 33 goals — far off from his normal pace.
This season, he leads the NHL in goals and is five away from 50. Ovechkin has hit more milestones, recording his 500th assist and 600th goal, during this season.
For all his achievements, Ovechkin reiterated that winning a Stanley Cup “is the most important thing.”
This hasn’t been the Capitals’ typical season. After winning the Presidents’ Trophy in back-to-back years, the Capitals have had more ups and downs. But they’ve survived.
They, again, lead the Metropolitan Division and are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, even after losing talent in the offseason. Prior to the start of the year, Ovechkin claimed the Capitals weren’t going to “suck.”
Still, Ovechkin knows regular season wins only go so far.
“I’m pretty sure in this locker room everybody is tired too of being a very good team in the [regular] season and in the playoffs we don’t get success,” Ovechkin said. “I hope with this group of guys we have right now we can take a step forward and stay longer in the playoffs and try to win what we want. That’s what we all want.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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