What’s the deal with the Capitals moving Alex Ovechkin to right wing?

The Washington Capitals lost their season opener 5-3 to the New Jersey Devils over the weekend, and just one game in, they’ve decided to make some significant lineup adjustments.

It’s been reported the Capitals will be moving Alex Ovechkin to right wing, for now, after Ovechkin has had sustainable success playing his off wing, throughout his storied career. Through one game this season, Ovechkin has one assist, recorded seven hits, but he didn’t have a shot on net against the Devils, in close to 20 minutes of ice time.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli dug into the Capitals decision to move Ovechkin to the right side of the ice.

Yaremchuk: Alex Ovechkin moving to the other wing? A career left-winger, they’re flipping him to the right side. Is this just one of those things again, that we’re going to look back on it in a couple of months and be like -we can’t believe we talked about this. Or, is there something to this?

Seravalli: No, I think OV himself kind of addressed it. He said – ‘hey, I might be playing goalie next game’. So, I think that probably gives you an indication of it doesn’t really matter where he lines up. I don’t necessarily really understand the change either. Because, is anyone thinking that when he gets an opportunity, that he’s not going to be going to his office to shots off.

To me, I guess I’m a little bit more confused than anything else. But, I’ll tell you, even only one game in for the Washington Capitals, huge exclamation point, huge topic of concern for me, is (head coach) Spencer Carbery saying Matt Roy is going to miss a significant chunk of time.

For more on Ovechkin’s move to the right side, Roy’s injury, and how the Capitals could be able to overcome the early season adversity, watch the full episode here.