If they needed a reminder, they got it when Fehervary missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season while recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus. After finishing first in the Eastern Conference and second in the NHL with 111 points (51-22-9) during the regular season, Washington lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs.

“I don’t want to overstate it, but I think I’m safe to tell you when I was breaking that series down and why we weren’t quite able to get to the way that we wanted it to look, that is up there,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said of Fehervary’s injury. “Lack of finish, special teams and Marty Fehervary are right up there.”

The Capitals didn’t hesitate to lock up Fehervary long term, signing him to a seven-year, $42 million contract ($6 million average annual value) that begins next season, on July 1. Carbery believes playing in the Olympics will help the rest of the world see how good Fehervary is, too.

“I remember watching him at the World Juniors and he would jump off the page in those games for his team in going up against the top Canadian players and the top U.S. players,” Carbery said. “So I think it’s no different when he goes to the Olympics. He thrives and relishes the opportunity to go against the world’s best.”

Fehervary played for Slovakia three times at the IIHF World Junior Championship (2017, 2018, 2019) and four times at the World Championship (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024).

Although he’s never won a medal in international play, he has fond memories of those experiences, especially when Slovakia hosted the Worlds in 2019 in his hometown of Bratislava and Kosice.

In the preliminary round, Slovakia won 4-1 against a loaded United States team that included Johnny Gaudreau, Dylan Larkin, Chris Kreider, Patrick Kane, Jack Eichel, Alex DeBrincat, Quinn Hughes and Jack Hughes, and lost 6-5 to Canada when Mark Stone scored the winning goal with one second left in regulation.

“I wasn’t in the NHL at that time, but we played some really good hockey,” Fehervary said. “That was a really, really special moment actually.”

Slovakia won the bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but Fehervary knows it will be a tall order to come home with a medal again from Milano Cortina with NHL players participating in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

“Obviously, we can’t really compare to the other teams like Canada or Sweden or USA, but I think we still have a pretty good team,” Fehervary said. “Our biggest goal is to play our system and play good hockey. I think if we do that, I think we’ve got a chance to beat those teams, like Sweden and Finland.

“Let’s be honest; it’s obviously going to be really, really difficult, but I’ve seen that our team can beat good teams.”

Fehervary plans to do his best to help Slovakia do that.

“I want to be one of the leaders,” he said. “I feel like I can bring a lot to that team. I think the leader needs to be one of the best on the ice, but also do some talks off the ice and help the team, help the younger guys to improve the game. I think that’s really important and I think I’m in the position right now that I can bring that to the team.”