Eastside's Hockey Elite Collide

From Si.com:

Ovechkin no longer untouchable
Views 54145 Comments 71 More Sharing ServicesShare on email08:30 AM ET 05.22 | Could Alex Ovechkin, who has nearly $90 million coming to him over the next nine years, be moved? Should anybody laugh off the suggestion? "I think it's possible," said one former NHL coach. "I think it would have to be a New York or maybe even a Montreal with the owner (Geoff Molson) there." I know the Capitals have so much tied up in Ovechkin; he's the face of their franchise. He's one of the most marketable hockey players in the world. It would be difficult to trade a guy with two Hart trophies, with already more than 300 goals, with nine years left on his contract, and get full value. But trading Ovechkin is not as farfetched today as it was a few years ago, though.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumo ... =hp_bf2_a8

Yeah, ok. Even if he's been declining in recent years, he's plenty young and just who exactly do you trade him for that's worth it?

Ovechkin for Versteeg, Anderson, 2nd.

Well, of course he's not untouchable because you know he's not happy in Washington. I don't think anything will be done until the Caps get a new coach and re-assess where they are. That said, why wouldn't the Caps try to move Ovechkin. He's still a draw to casual hockey fans. If they found a home for him in a city with low attendance (cough, Columbus, cough) and were able to sell the team on immediate dividends at the box office, teams would possibly move some of their more untouchable guys.

Not to say that I ever see Columbus in the running, but the 2nd pick + 2013 1st + John Moore probably gets it done for the cap relief and the distraction of Ovechkin gone. It would give Rick Nash somebody to play with and Brassard's emergence late last season could give them somebody with excellent passing skills to play with. Ovechkin's dependent on a playmaking center. See Backstrom, Nicklas.

I'm not sure which teams would be that interested and could pony up the prospects necessary to get Alex, but his 9.5M deal is far from cap-friendly, though the cap keeps going up anyway.

That said, all of this is probably much ado about nothing. It's just that time of year to stir the pot.

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