Alex Ovechkin
Ovechkin is a third-line left wing who still holds a first power-play spot, per projected lineups from Oct 29 and Nov 1. I found no current reporting on the day-to-day note, and I did not read a live line page.
Role
Inside the Rink's Oct 29 projection (Capitals at Predators) had him on the third line with Ilya Protas and Anthony Beauvillier. The top two lines were Aliaksei Protas, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson, then Alex Tuch, Dylan Strome and Jordan Kyrou. Inside the Rink's Nov 1 preview (Wild at Capitals) had him on the first power-play unit with Wilson, Strome, Kyrou and Jakob Chychrun. The Oct 29 preview put the second unit as I. Protas, Dubois, Tuch, Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson. Other aggregators (5V5 Hockey, Oct 20; Morning Puck, about 16 days old) showed the same third-line and PP1 picture. A Gameday Tweets aggregator, whose date I could not confirm, says line order carries little weight for this team. I found no reported ice-time figures this season, and none of these were live pages I fetched.
He stays on the first power-play unit, where The Hockey News mailbag (about 17 days old) expects him to remain. It calls him the greatest goal scorer of all time who can still shoot and screen the goalie. The same piece describes the power play as a 1A/1B arrangement with plenty of depth, so his unit gets real work. Daily Faceoff notes he signed a one-year, $9.5 million deal and says his consistency is why he holds the goals record.
At 41 he is on the third line, not the top six, and the power play has been a problem. The Hockey News reported it was 6-for-40 early in the season, though that article looks to be from last season. Daily Faceoff and Gino Hard noted he has opened camp with a physical issue three years running. He was also hurt again in September: a lower-body injury kept him off the ice, and he left one practice early. Daily Faceoff says many suspect this is his final season.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether he keeps the first power-play spot or loses it to the second unit. The Hockey News mailbag notes more spark on the second unit and expects him to stay on the power play. Lineup trackers differ on who fills the first-unit forward spots. Inside the Rink lists Kyrou, while 5V5 Hockey (Oct 20) lists Leonard. The mailbag also expects Strome and Kyrou to stay together and Ovechkin to stay with I. Protas, which points to a continued third-line role rather than a promotion.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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