The Washington Capitals ruled Alex Ovechkin out for four to six weeks last Thursday due to his fractured fibula, but the club’s captain isn’t straying too far from his teammates while he recovers.
After practice Sunday, head coach Spencer Carbery revealed that Ovechkin will travel to Florida with the team for their two-game road trip this week. While Ovechkin won’t get on the ice against the Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning, he can participate in any activities the team has planned for their annual Mentors’ Trip.
“He’s coming on the trip with us down [to Florida],” Carbery said.
Per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Ovechkin is bringing his father-in-law, Kirill Shubsky, on the trip. The two sat next to each other at the Washington Wizards game on Friday, which was Ovechkin’s first public appearance since breaking his leg. Ovechkin’s father, Mikhail, passed away in February 2023.
In recent days, Ovechkin has been spotted hanging around the team’s practice facility, MedStar Capitals Iceplex, and was in attendance at Capital One Arena on Saturday night to watch the Capitals’ 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. He has not been sporting any visible cast or brace on his leg.
The Captain @ovi8 is in the house !
Guess that means one less viewer for #CAPS/DEVILS tonight at 7 on @MonSportsNet with @JoeBpXp and @Laughlin18 pic.twitter.com/hPOmpvVX0N
— Al Koken (@RealSmokinAl) November 23, 2024
The Capitals have lost both games without Ovechkin in their lineup and scored only three combined goals in the two losses. Before getting hurt, Ovechkin had scored 15 goals in 18 games to start the 2024-25 season and held sole possession of the league lead in goals at the time of his injury.
Ovechkin’s longest consecutive absence to date came during the 2009-10 season when he sat out six games with an upper-body injury. He could miss more than double that amount of games while his fibula heals.
