In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Alexander Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goals record, and refused to go on the ice with the empty net for the record-breaking goal. Elsewhere, could the 2025 offseason be the year of the offer sheets? It worked well for the St. Louis Blues last offseason, so other teams may look to do it as well. Finally, Mats Zuccarello and Bill Guerin expressed a lot of frustration after the Minnesota Wild lost 3-1 to the New York Islanders.
Ovechkin Ties Gretzky, Refuses to Play Against Empty Net
It was always a matter of when, not if, but Ovechkin scored two goals against the Chicago Blackhawks, tying Gretzky’s record with his 894th career goal. In the dying minutes of the game, the Blackhawks pulled goaltender Spencer Knight and utilized their timeout. Ovechkin hopped over the boards and it looked like he was getting on the ice, but returned to the bench before play resumed.
On the broadcast, it was shown that head coach Spencer Carbery asked Ovechkin if he wanted to go out, but Ovechkin said no. After the game, Carbery was asked about it, and he stated “he wants to beat the record with a goaltender in the crease“.
The league was prepared for the record to be broken in that game. Commissioner Gary Bettman was in the arena, as was Wayne Gretzky, but there are also reports that Nick Backstrom, Ted Leonsis, and others may join on the trips to each Capitals game to celebrate the mighty achievement. The Capitals players, of course, will be permitted to leave the bench and celebrate with Ovechkin, and there will be a brief, seven-minute ceremony, regardless of when the goal is scored or how important the game is for the opposition as many teams push for a playoff spot.
All eyes are on Ovechkin and that record. The Capitals play in Long Island on Sunday, April 6, and according to TickPick, prices for the cheapest tickets to that game at UBS Arena went from $250 to $552 in the matter of seconds upon the conclusion of the Capitals/Blackhawks game. That number is quickly rising, and getting a ticket under $2,000 could be difficult. Everybody wants to watch it happen, but if you want to do so in person, it is going to cost.
Lost among the excitement of Ovechkin’s chase, newly-signed forward Ryan Leonard scored his first career NHL goal against the Blackhawks. He has been excellent, and oozing with confidence since joining the Capitals, and deserves the recognition despite the other storylines going on in Washington.
2025 Could Have The Summer of Offer Sheets
Michael Russo and Chris Johnston of The Athletic wrote a story on how 2025 could be the summer of offer sheets. They don’t come around very often, but cause plenty of excitement when they do. From the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens going back and forth with Sebastian Aho and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to the Blues getting both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from the Edmonton Oilers, fans all around love to see them.
The draft compensation is the tricky part of an offer sheet. There are different thresholds that required a significant amount of draft picks to be traded, which has to be the teams own picks in the next draft, and it can be costly. Not only that, but the contract likely needs to be above market value and what the player is truly worth, or the team that owns the rights of the player can simply match.
With the salary cap increasing, and the very successful work done by the Blues, Russo and Johnston spoke with league executives and others about the increased chance of offer sheets this offseason. (from ‘The summer of offer sheets’: NHL execs and agents on why a boom could be coming this offseason, The Athletic, April 3, 2025)
The two writers list Matthew Knies, Evan Bouchard, K’Andre Miller, Will Cuylle, Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, J.J. Petrerka, and Bowen Byram as the top candidates to receive an offer sheet. If one or two get offer-sheeted, that would be chaos considering the rarity of them in the past, but there could be a whole bunch. General managers have taken note of what the Blues did and how well it worked.
Zuccarello Expressed Frustration Amid 3-Game Losing Streak
The Minnesota Wild started the season very hot, sitting with a 20-6-4 record 30 games into the season. For a while, it looked like they could catch up to the Winnipeg Jets for the top spot in the Central Division or even take over the Western Conference. Fast forward to this point of the season, where the Wild have five games left, they have lost six of the last seven games, and currently sit in the second wild card spot.
Behind them in the standings are the Calgary Flames. With two games in hand and five points behind, there is certainly a chance they can catch up to the Wild and bump them out of the playoffs. It doesn’t help that superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who still sits third on the team in scoring despite playing just 37 games. The offense isn’t strong enough without Kaprizov, and the recent losing skid has been frustrating for some players, and even the general manager.
According to Russo, who covers the Wild at The Athletic, Bill Guerin was upset that there was no major penalty called on Bo Horvat after boarding Jake Middleton. “Steaming mad, the Wild GM instructed the beat writers not to ask John Hynes about the minor vs. major and to go ask referee Francois St. Laurent (whom he called another name), then yelled the same to Hynes.” Russo writes.
The post-game scrum had some upset players, too.
Zuccarello said “I don’t really have that much to say right now, to be honest with you. I’m so sick of standing here and telling you guys this and that. I’m sorry. Just not good enough. No, I don’t really have anything good to honestly say about it. It sucks they score right away and took the momentum from us.”
Brock Faber added on to what Zuccarello said, saying “It’s hard to win. You know, we’re working our ass off and trying to piece together a win. It’s just been a challenge. There’s nothing but negativity coming from just about every single person outside of the guys in this room…”
In a skid like this, emotions come out. It is normal for players to feel this way, but at this point in the season, to have confidence at rock bottom and having the Flames putting pressure on, their playoff hopes could be in jeopardy.
