{"id":135729,"date":"2025-08-11T01:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T01:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/135729\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T01:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T01:19:09","slug":"alex-alexeyev-on-leaving-capitals-this-summer-and-signing-with-penguins-given-how-little-i-played-im-actually-glad-it-worked-out-this-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/135729\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Alexeyev on leaving Capitals this summer and signing with Penguins: \u2018Given how little I played, I\u2019m actually glad it worked out this way\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals declined to extend a qualifying offer to defenseman Alex Alexeyev<\/strong> earlier this summer<\/a>, making the 25-year-old an unrestricted free agent. Alexeyev, a 2018 first-round draft selection of the Capitals, then signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> on the second day of NHL free agency.<\/p>\n

Alexeyev recently sat down with RG\u2019s Daria Tuboltseva<\/a> to explain why he believes the Penguins make the most sense for the next step in his career, especially after years of limited playing time in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked everything about my conversations with [Pittsburgh],\u201d Alexeyev said<\/a>. \u201cLooking at their roster, you can see there\u2019s a real chance to play and compete for a spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, it\u2019s actually great \u2014 a kind of reset I really needed. I\u2019m already eager to play hockey. They told me they\u2019ll trust me and give me ice time. That\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike the Capitals, the Penguins have few playoff aspirations for next season. Instead, the club has focused on selling off veteran assets and sparking a rebuild under general manager Kyle Dubas. The Penguins have missed the playoffs three years in a row and replaced long-time head coach Mike Sullivan with first-time NHL bench boss Dan Muse<\/a> this offseason.<\/p>\n

In 2024-25, Alexeyev found himself shoved down the Capitals\u2019 playoffs-bound depth chart after the club added top-four defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy. The team also picked up defender Declan Chisholm at the 2025 draft, leaving the writing on the wall for Alexeyev.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was heading in that direction from the start,\u201d Alexeyev said. \u201cNo real shock. Early or mid-June, they told me they wouldn\u2019t extend my contract. I wasn\u2019t surprised at all. Given how little I played, I\u2019m actually glad it worked out this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite spending six years in the Capitals organization, Alexeyev never played a full season\u2019s worth of games, departing DC with 80 career NHL appearances under his belt. He played in just eight regular-season games this past year and was only forced into playoff duty after Martin Fehervary underwent knee surgery in April.<\/p>\n

Alexeyev\u2019s final contract with the Capitals was a two-year deal signed ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. He expected regular playing time with the club but never received it, which took its toll.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a strong finish to the [2023-24] season, and they told me: \u2018Next year, be ready to play.\u2019 Then they signed Chychrun,\u201d Alexeyev said. \u201cHow do you take that? I still don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the end to his time with the organization may not have gone as he wished, Alexeyev still expressed nothing but respect for the Capitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful they gave me the chance to play my first NHL game, taught me to be a pro,\u201d Alexeyev said. \u201cI spent seven years there. I came in as a kid who didn\u2019t care about much, and left as a grown, serious player. I\u2019m thankful to every teammate, coach, and manager. This place will always be in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexeyev is one of eight defensemen the Penguins have under contract for next season. Instead of his primary competition being Chychrun, Fehervary, and Rasmus Sandin, he\u2019ll be battling with names like Ryan Graves, Parker Wotherspoon, and Ryan Shea for time on the left side of the team\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

With the Penguins, Alexeyev will also reunite with his former head coach, Todd Nelson, who coached him for seven AHL games with the Bears. Nelson joined the Penguins\u2019 bench as an assistant last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals declined to extend a qualifying offer to defenseman Alex Alexeyev earlier this summer, making the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-135729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}