OPINION:
I think it is going to be fun this year on Fun Street.
There was the hoopla last week about the Washington Wizards drafting AJ Dybantsa — the No. 1 pick in the NBA.
It was the most excitement we’ve seen around here about the basketball team in at least a decade — even though the 19-year-old who led the NCAA in scoring last season has not yet played a game at Capital One Arena.
But they’ve been selling losing there for the past three years to many empty seats with the hope of promise. The promise has arrived, and that appears to have been enough to generate attention in this town. Results will have to come to generate revenue — fill those empty seats. For now, though, people are ready to be entertained — have fun.
That’s not all, though.
The Capitals, the tenants who share the building, traded for two top scorers last week — winger Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues and forward Alex Tuch from the Buffalo Sabres. Tuch, 30, scored 33 goals for Buffalo last season and 448 points — 200 goals, 248 assists — in 615 career regular-season games. Kyrou, 28, had 18 goals and 46 points in 72 games for St. Louis this past season. In 488 career regular-season games, Kyrou has scored 168 goals and 210 assists.
It should prove to be a strong infusion of offense for a team that missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2023.
But if Alex Ovechkin returns, the biggest star power will still be generated by the greatest scorer in NHL history.
His return at the age of 41 this coming season (his birthday is Sept. 17) is not yet certain — the Great 8 remains noncommittal about his future.
Capitals coach Spencer Carberry told 106.7 The Fan last week that Ovechkin was pleased with the moves and, still playing it coy, if he were to return, he would accept a reduced role with the addition of the goal scores.
“He genuinely wants to win so as we improve the forward group. If now all the sudden we’ve got two more 30-goal scorers and that means ’O’ plays a minute or two minutes less of 5-on-5 and we’re a better team, he’s going to raise his arm and go ’Yes! I love this.’ Because he wants to win,” Carbery said.
Chris Patrick told reporters Saturday the team has the financial capability to sign Ovechkin, who becomes a free agent Wednesday.
“From my conversations with Alex before he left (for the offseason), I think I have an understanding of if he does come back, kind of, what he’s looking at contract-wise,” Patrick said. “So, that kind of gave me some clarity as far as what I’m able to do spending-wise.”
Ovechkin, the league’s all-time goal scorer with 929, produced 32 goals last season to lead the Capitals. He is still a force on the ice but appears to recognize his limitations at his age. Like Clint Eastwood once said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”
If Ovechkin does return, this will likely be his career finale, adding more festivities on what should prove to be a festive Fun Street outside the arena — the arrival of the Wizards’ future star player and the swan song for the Capitals’ franchise legend.
All fun and games, right? Now, consider this — if owner Ted Leonsis had his way, Fun Street in the District would have likely been more like Funeral Street if he had been able to get the proposed arena he wanted to build across the river in Alexandria.
If Leonsis had been successful in leaving the city, the excitement over the arrival of Dybantsa and the new and improved Wizards would have been diminished. The Capitals, too, but perhaps not as much. A cloud would have hung over F Street and the building being left behind.
Leonsis, though, got $515 million from the city to spend on his arena, and it will soon be time to reap the rewards of those public funds. Monumental Sports & Entertainment announced last week “Theater Boxes — a new hospitality experience designed to make hosting at live sports and entertainment events feel more personal, effortless, and memorable.
These “Theater Boxes” will be located in “The Halo” — Leonsis’ high-priced 4,500-seat special section scheduled to open for the 2027-28 season.
Fun isn’t cheap.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
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