Where will Alex Ovechkin play during NHL lockout? He’s prepared for full KHL season

With some of the big names signing in the KHL, Alex Ovechkin is still on the market. Some of us thought that today, Alex Ovechkin's 27th birthday, he would get a nice present in the form of a contract in the KHL.

But nothing has happened yet.

Just recently, his alma mater Dynamo Moscow was making strange noises about not brining him on board for the lockout. And that's after the club employed Ovechkin as its "official advisor" a couple of years ago even though it is tough to say if the relationship is still ongoing.

On Monday morning, Ovechkin's Russian agent Valery Matveev (contracts in the KHL can only be negotiated by KHL registered agents) told Izvestiya newspaper that the negotiations are ongoing.

But one thing is clear: Ovechkin thinks the NHL lockout may take an entire year and if it does, he will spend that year in the KHL.

Said Ovechkin, exclusively to Pavel Lysenkov and Sovietsky Sport: "If the League [NHL] continues to insist on their [demands], then it will take a full year. That's because we are not going to cave in.  Then I will spend the entire season in the KHL. It's an absolute reality."

Where in the KHL would Ovechkin play? Said Matveev:

"Dynamo is Alex's team. And it would be unethical if Alexander joins another team without offering his services to Dynamo. Fans won't understand it. The negotiations regarding Ovechkin are complicated by the fact that he has to have a quite expensive insurance [to insure his NHL contract]. Not every club can afford it. And, of course, it is important who his teammates will be. It is important for Alex to easily fit into a team. We need to get Dynamo's reaction to all these questions."

In the same interview Matveev confirmed that Ovechkin's mother, Tatiana Ovechkina, has had contacts with the CSKA management, who are showing big interest in signing Ovechkin. It's worth remembering that Sergei Fedorov, who played with Ovechkin in Washington, is currently CSKA's general manager.

But the KHL's president says Dynamo has a "moral right" to Ovechkin.

Ovechkin has avoided questions about his future. "I am not yet ready to answer this question," Ovechkin told Dmitry Ponomarenko of Sovetsky Sport. "But I think that you will know everything in a few days. It will all be officially announced."

At the same time, the Washington Capitals captain said that he is yet to decide where he will play.

It is very possible, even more likely than not, that Ovechkin will indeed join CSKA. It is also possible he will be reunited with his old friend from Washington, Alexander Semin there, who also has not yet made up his mind about his lockout future.

And there are more whispers — completely unconfirmed — that Pavel Datsyuk may center that line.

(Ed. Note: Ovechkin quote added to original post.)