from Samantha Pell of The Washington Post,

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and his newest teammate, and longtime friend, Ilya Kovalchuk skated around the ice at Tuesday’s morning skate, laughing as they embraced.

The two have talked about playing on the same team since they were around 13 and 14 years old, and after the Capitals acquired Kovalchuk on Sunday night for a 2020 third-round draft pick, it’s finally happening. Two of the most influential players in Russia will reunite, with the goal of bringing Washington its second Stanley Cup in three years. They are the top two active Russian goal-scorers in the NHL.

“I’m excited for him, excited for the opportunity,” Ovechkin said. “And he’s a good fit for our team, brings some depth, brings lots of options to play with, so it’s good.”

Ovechkin said the two have joked about what it would be like to play on the same NHL team — they have played together on the national team — and they had dinner back in December, when rumors of Kovalchuk potentially coming to the Capitals started to swirl. They kept in touch, and finally, the jokes turned into a reality as they donned their matching yellow laces Tuesday at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.

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