COMPLETED DAEL: 700 million contract deal has been agreed between Alexander Ovechkin and….. The Washington Capitals presented Chris Patrick as the team’s seventh common director in establishment history on Tuesday. Patrick is taking the rules from the 65-year-old Brian MacLellan, who is venturing out of his day-to-day part with the group and moving into a supervising part as president of hockey operations.
Patrick will now represent the Capitals at the NHL’s General Managers’ meetings and will become the primary point of contact for other NHL GMs. Since taking over the role of associate general manager last summer, Patrick already oversaw the team’s analytics department, player contract negotiations, hockey operations staff, player personnel, budget and team scheduling matters, and the Capitals’ affiliate relationships.
The 48-year-old Patrick intends to build on MacLellan’s work over the last few seasons, retooling the team as it transitions to a new core. The team has sold at two straight trade deadlines, prioritizing draft picks over veteran assets, while acquiring younger talent to set up for the future.
Patrick held his first press conference as Capitals GM on Tuesday at District E in Washington DC. Joining Patrick on stage was MacLellan; his father and chairman of the club, Dick Patrick; and team owner Ted Leonsis. When asked how he envisioned the Caps’ future, Patrick told reporters he had high expectations.
“My intention is to be competitive,” he said. “I’m not a guy that likes losing. And I truly believe that we can transition, for lack of a better term, past the (Alex) Ovechkin era with a competitive team.