Alex Ovechkin Had Emotional Quote After Capitals Traded John Carlson to Ducks

Alex Ovechkin was emotional after longtime Capitals teammate John Carlson was traded to the Ducks. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

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The Capitals bid farewell to one of their longest tenured players on Thursday evening, agreeing to trade veteran defenseman John Carlson to the Ducks in exchange for a conditional 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 third-round pick.

The trade marks the end of Carlson’s tenure in Washington. He’d been a mainstay in the Capitals lineup for the last 17 years, and is one of the greatest players, and arguably the greatest defenseman, in franchise history.

His departure is an emotional one for the organization. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was asked about the trade that sent Carlson to Anaheim, and he admitted the news made him emotional, calling Friday the “saddest day” of his career on a personal level, via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com.

Ovechkin said that he was “in shock” when he found out about the trade, via Tarik El-Bashir of Sportsnet. When asked about the Carlson departure potentially having an impact on his own future, Ovechkin said, “I don’t know. I’m still here so we’ll see. We’ll see what’s going to happen. It’s a hard one.”

Ovechkin, of course, was drafted all the way back in 2004 and has played in Washington for the last 21 seasons. He’s the longest tenured player in the organization. Carlson has been with him for most of his stay in D.C., having debuted for the franchise in 2009.

Together, the pair won a Stanley Cup in 2018 and have played in more than 1,000 games as teammates. That all came to an end on Friday when Carlson was traded to the Ducks.

Carlson has played in a total of 1,143 games for the Caps and has 771 points. He ranks fifth all-time in scoring for the franchise, and first among Washington’s defensemen. But with the Capitals barely hanging around in the wild-card race, the team felt a first-round pick was simply too much value to turn down in exchange for the 36-year-old.

Carlson will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, currently in the final year of the eight-year, $64 million deal he signed with the Capitals in 2018.

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