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As things are turning in the right direction for the Washington Capitals, winning their last four games, things seem to be going downwards for star Center Nicklas Backstrom. On Tuesday, Capitals President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Brian MacLellan had some less-than promising words about Backstrom’s future.
“He’s been such a big part of our organization, the culture here, obviously winning the cup. He’s played 1,000 games with us, he’s got over 1,000 points,” MacLellan said in an appearance on the Jeff Marek Show. “Along with [Alex Ovechkin], they’ve been the face of our franchise for the past 17 years, 18 years.”
Before the season began, Backstrom said that he was fully optimistic about the upcoming season because he was pain free, following hip resurfacing surgery back in July 2022, and had a normal offseason of training.
However, Backstrom announced on November 1 that he would be stepping away from hockey due to health issues. He played just eight games in the 2023-24 regular season and recorded just one assist.
Washington Capitals Nicklas Backstrom Says He Will Step Away From Hockey Due To Health Reasons
MacLellan made his first public appearance on November 6, saying that the Capitals’ No. 19 was “unlikely” to play the rest of the campaign. But on Tuesday, the veteran GM dropped a pretty obvious hint that Backstrom is likely going to be out for more than just the remaining 67 games of the current season.
“I think that the hip thing came here probably three years ago, where it went to a different level and to watch him, first of all struggle, play through pain with it was hard… You didn’t want to see it end the wrong way, but you wanted to see him go out the right way. So it’s just a difficult situation all around,” MacLellan said.
“He made a decision here just a little bit ago that he was going to exit and that’s the way he was going out. So I give him a lot of respect for the way he did it.”
Nicklas Backstrom Unlikely To Play Again This Season
Backstrom is the Capitals’ all-time Assists leader with 762 helpers and is second in franchise history with 1,033 career points. He is the second player in franchise history to reach the 1,000 Games Played plateau and has spent his entire. 17-year NHL career in Washington.
The soon-to-be 36-year old signed a five-year extension in January 2020, with hopes of ending his career at the same time as Alex Ovechkin and helping him break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record.
“The storybook ending was, you’d like to see ‘Backstrom assisted Ovi breaking Gretzky’s record’. That’s the idealistic one, but unfortunately it’s not going to go out that way,” remarked MacLellan. “I think it’s tough for players that are elite [deciding] how they exit the game. How can they go out while still staying on top, while still maintaining your respect that you have as a player.”
There has been no public announcement as to whether the 2006 fourth-overall selection is indeed retiring. He is currently on long-term injured reserve.
By Jacob Cheris