© Jess Rapfogel/Washington Capitals

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WASHINGTON — Coming from a family with four generations of Stanley Cup winners and NHL executives, Chris Patrick knows something about succession plans.

Patrick will play a significant role in one after being promoted to senior vice president and general manager by the Washington Capitals on Monday. He takes over the reins from Brian MacLellan, who will remain in a supervisory role as president of hockey operations after 10 seasons as GM, at a critical juncture when the Capitals are preparing to transition to life after Alex Ovechkin.

Ovechkin, who will celebrate his 39th birthday on Sept. 17 and is approaching his 20th NHL season, has been the emblematic player of the team ever since being chosen as the top pick in the 2004 NHL Draft by Washington. He has held the captaincy since 2010. The talented left winger still has two seasons left on his current contract, worth $47.5 million over five years ($9.5 million average annual value), which he signed in 2021. This implies that the 2025-2026 season could potentially be his final one in the NHL.

Ovechkin has enough time to score the required 42 goals in order to surpass Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894. Undoubtedly, his pursuit of this record will be a significant part of the Capitals’ storyline this season and possibly the next one. Patrick, under MacLellan’s guidance, will be responsible for ensuring that this achievement marks the conclusion of a historic chapter in the franchise’s 50-year history, which notably includes their first Stanley Cup championship in 2018.

“At Tuesday’s introductory news conference, Patrick expressed his determination, stating, ‘I aspire to be a contender. Losing is not my preference. I firmly believe that we can move beyond the Ovechkin era and build a competitive team.'”

Patrick seems destined for this job, specifically as an NHL GM. He belongs to a distinguished lineage of Patricks who have left their mark on the sport. This includes his grandfather Lester, great uncle Frank, grandfather Muzz, great uncle Lynn, first cousin once removed Craig, and his father Dick, who has held various roles with the Capitals since 1982, currently serving as chairman while also being a minority owner and executive.

© Tom Gulitti

Before him, Lester, Frank, Muzz, Lynn, Craig, and Dick had all occupied management positions in NHL teams. However, Chris, who had a background playing with the Little Caps program and studying at Princeton University from 1995 to 1998, initially ventured onto a different professional path.

After obtaining his degrees from Princeton (Bachelor of Science in politics and economics, 1998) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (Masters in business administration, 2006), Chris ventured into the finance industry. However, in 2008, he realized that his true passion lay within the family business.

Chris Patrick expressed that it was difficult not to develop a passion for the game, as he reminisced about his childhood visits to his grandparents’ house, where he would see pictures and listen to conversations between Craig, his dad, and his grandfather.

Nevertheless, according to Dick Patrick, Chris has achieved his current position through dedicated effort and hard work.

Starting off in a player development and part-time scouting position, the 48-year-old dedicated a solid 16 years to climbing the Capitals’ organizational hierarchy. Through perseverance and hard work, he advanced through various roles, including pro scout, director of player personnel, assistant GM, and ultimately, associate GM.

Last August, MacLellan’s appointment as president of hockey operations and Patrick’s promotion to associate GM marked the initial phase of this management transition. Throughout the past season, Patrick assumed greater responsibilities such as supervising Washington’s analytics department, conducting player contract negotiations, managing the hockey operations staff, overseeing player personnel matters, as well as handling the budget and team scheduling affairs.

MacLellan’s job when he replaced George McPhee as GM after Washington missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2014 was to get more out of a star-studded roster with Ovechkin and center Nicklas Backstrom in their primes and much of the rest of the Stanley Cup core ready to emerge, including forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, defensemen John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov and goalie Braden Holtby. MacLellan supplemented that group by adding key players such as defensemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, and forwards T.J. Oshie and Lars Eller. The Capitals went 449-244-88 during MacLellan’s tenure — the third-most wins in the NHL during that span behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (475) and Boston Bruins (466).

From 2015-16 to 2019-20, Washington successfully made it to the playoffs nine times and dominated the Metropolitan Division by clinching the top spot for five consecutive seasons. They solidified their position as the NHL’s finest team in the regular season by earning the prestigious Presidents’ Trophy in both 2015-16 and 2016-17. However, the ultimate triumph came in 2018 when they finally lifted the coveted Cup.

Patrick’s main objective is not to simply replicate MacLellan’s achievements, but to efficiently guide Washington towards the next phase wherein they can vie for the Cup.

Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Capitals, stated that although Chris has a significant workload, we will not compromise on our standards.

© Tom Gulitti

However, the front-office transition is expected to be much smoother compared to the changes happening on the ice. Among the players who were part of the Cup team, only Ovechkin, Oshie, Carlson, and Wilson remain, with Oshie’s future on the team uncertain due to recurring back problems.

Ovechkin’s age is starting to affect his performance on the ice. He went from scoring 42 goals in the 2022-23 season to only 31 goals last year. Despite the decline, Ovechkin still managed to lead the Capitals in goal-scoring. In the last 36 games of the regular season, he scored 23 goals, which played a crucial role in securing the team’s playoff spot. With a total of 91 points (40-31-11), the Capitals clinched the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.

Leonsis and MacLellan made a commitment to Ovechkin that they would strive to win as he pursues the goals record, prior to him signing his current contract. Consequently, the Capitals have been engaged in efforts to rejuvenate and reshape the team around him, primarily by incorporating younger players.

They’ve been particularly aggressive this offseason, acquiring forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois, 26, and Andrew Mangiapane, 28, defenseman Jakob Chychrun, 26, and backup goalie Logan Thompson, 27, in trades and signing forwards Taylor Raddysh, 26, and Brandon Duhaime, 27, and defenseman Matt Roy, 29, as unrestricted free agents.

Patrick was part of that decision-making on those moves with MacLellan, who called it, “a group process.” The Capitals see potential in how the new players will fit alongside those previously added such as forward Dylan Strome, 27, and defenseman Rasmus Sandin, 24, and maturing young players acquired through the NHL Draft such as forwards Connor McMichael, 23, Aliaksei Protas, 23, Hendrix Lapierre, 22, and Ivan Miroshnichenko, 20, and defenseman Martin Fehervary, 24.

While finding another Ovechkin is highly unlikely since generational players are a rarity, Washington must strive to achieve success through a collective effort. Patrick is optimistic about the team’s progress in moving towards this direction.

He stated that he believes our actions during this offseason have already made a significant impact. It is common for individuals to suggest that as our star players age, it is necessary to rebuild and start from scratch. However, he believes that implementing this plan can be much more challenging than it appears. Many teams have attempted this approach, only to find themselves trapped in a never-ending cycle of tearing down and rebuilding, without achieving their desired goals.

“…There have been instances where certain teams successfully shifted from an older core to a more youthful and competitive roster. I firmly believe that this possibility is open for us as well.”