Leonsis on Ovechkin: “He needs to play better”

Not unlike his paying customers, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis is worried about the play of Alex Ovechkin.

Via Puck Daddy, Leonsis voiced his concerns today on Washington radio station WTOP.

“Alex is off to a slow start,” he said, “and I’m surprised because he did go play in the KHL. But he’s having to get integrated into this new system. We put him on the right side, and now he’s back on the left side.

“He needs to play better. I don’t have the answers, obviously; I’m not running the hockey operations.”

Ovechkin was held pointless in yesterday’s loss to the Ottawa Senators. In six games, the 27-year-old former NHL scoring champ has just one goal and one assist.

When asked what he thought his star player — the one with the $124 million contract — could do better, Leonsis said, “You know, he gets double-teamed all the time. He has to keep moving. That’s the one thing I’ve noticed when he doesn’t have a good game – he seems to be more stationary.”

That’s one theory. There are plenty of others.

But Leonsis put it best with this: “He needs to play better.”