Inside the Capitals' stunning retool around Alex Ovechkin

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If Alex Ovechkin was going to shatter Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record as a member of the Washington Capitals, he had some conditions that needed to be met.

Before re-signing, Ovechkin told Capitals owner Ted Leonsis that he didn't want to be "a third-line guy playing 8 to 10 minutes a game." He didn't want to be someone the team "trotted out on the power play" just to pad his goal totals, according to Leonsis.

Most of all, he didn't want to play for a rebuilding team. Before signing a five-year contract extension in 2021, he asked Leonsis to promise him that the owner would keep the team competitive, that the Capitals would be the annual playoff contender they had…