ARLINGTON, Va. – Alex Ovechkin is about to have the biggest summer of his life.

He just won the Stanley Cup for the first time, his first child is due this summer, and the FIFA World Cup is kicking off in Russia June 14.

“I wanna go so bad,” he said. “I have to wait.”

First, though, he has to go to Las Vegas for the NHL Awards. After that, Ovechkin and wife Nastya will spend a month in Russia before returning to prepare for the birth of their child. Somewhere in between all of that, Ovechkin will have his day with the Cup.

“I want to bring the Stanley Cup to my house, to my family back home to share,” Ovechkin said. “My grandma, she will touch it. She will kiss it. It’s something special. You never thought how cool it is.”

The Washington Capitals captain showed up to the team’s last availability of the year clean shaven, his bushy beard streaked with a little grey completely gone. He looked almost boyish. His sponsors from Gillette had come to his house at 9 a.m. to film him shaving it, he said.

Ovechkin held court with reporters on Wednesday for more than 25 minutes. When a team public relations person came to fetch him, he said, “That’s it? I can talk more.”

It was different from the Ovechkin who usually shied away from long scrums. He might have gone on all day if the Capitals didn’t have a schedule to keep.

He told stories about the time Igor Larionov brought the Cup to Russia - the first time that had ever been done - after winning it with the Red Wings in 1997.

“I remember the moment when Igor Larionov came to our locker room and he showed us how he practices, how he enjoy the moment to be in the NHL and be a Stanley Cup champion,” Ovechkin said. “It was something special. One day, I wanted to be in his position to raise the Cup and in the future I will share this moment with some kids.”

When his day with the Cup comes, he’ll bring it to the hockey school in Dynamo where he learned how to play and spend some time with the children there. The accompanying party promises to be a grand event.

“It’s going to be pretty big,” he said. “I’m going to share it with my family, with my friends, with the people who want to see it. I’m going to share it with all the people who I know, people who I don’t know. But I’m just going to share my moment with them because lots of fans who didn’t see it, never touched it.”

It’s been just under a week since he first lifted the Cup, and he hasn’t let go of it much since then. It still feels like a dream.

“It’s crazy,” Ovechkin said. “I’m pretty sure it’s still going to be going for a week or two. But I still can’t believe we won. I still can’t believe we did it. Of course, you have dreams about it, but this is something unbelievable. Even today when me and my wife were with the Cup, like, ‘Is it real or is it a dream?’ It’s real. We won.”

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Devante Smith-Pelly hasn't changed his mind about forgoing a potential White House invite. But he won't hold it against Alex Ovechkin or any of his Washington Capitals teammates if they head to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to visit President Donald Trump after winning the Stanley Cup.

“I said what I said and that is what I believe,” Smith-Pelly told reporters, including Samantha Pell of The Washington Post, on Wednesday, reiterating what he said to Postmedia's Michael Traikos last week.

“Again, I haven’t thought about it any more than that," Smith-Pelly continued. "I stand by what I said … They can do whatever they want, you know what I mean. When I said what I said, no one in the room said, ‘Hey, maybe you should do this or maybe you should do that.’ Everyone can do whatever they want. I will still love Ovi if he goes and the other guys if they go.”

Ovechkin said Wednesday he's looking forward to a possible celebration at the White House, adding that he "can't wait" and hasn't been there other than taking pictures around it.

"It will be fun," the captain added.

Other Capitals, such as Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Tom Wilson, Lars Eller, and Jay Beagle, expressed an interest in going, while head coach Barry Trotz said no decision has been made, though he sees visiting the White House as a valued sports tradition.

"Whatever the group decides, we will do it," Trotz said. "I don’t know if it will be a full group, a half group, or no group, I have no idea."

Smith-Pelly, a Canadian who is black, told Traikos last Wednesday that "the things that (Trump) spews are straight-up racist and sexist," and he definitely doesn't agree with the president's rhetoric.

Trump has yet to formally invite the Capitals. Last Monday, he canceled the Philadelphia Eagles' visit. During the NBA Finals, both LeBron James and Stephen Curry said their teams wouldn't go if invited, and the president responded by saying they wouldn't be welcome anyway.

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The Washington Capitals are preparing to explore the trade market and gauge interest in backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer.

Grubauer would like to be a No. 1 goalie, and Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan will look for a trade partner to help make that happen, he said at the team's locker clean out Wednesday, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post.

With few high-end goalies set to become free agents, there should be no shortage of demand for the German netminder. In fact, both the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly shown interest.

The 26-year-old posted a 15-10-3 record with a 2.35 goals-against average and .923 save percentage this season. In 101 career games, he's put up a 2.29 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to officially invite the 2018 Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals to the White House for a traditional visit, but it appears most players would accept the offer when it comes, according to Samantha Pell of The Washington Post.

This comes roughly a week after Trump said he wouldn't invite the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors to the White House, and he canceled the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles' invite after Nick Foles was reportedly the only player confirmed to go.

While some players declined to comment, Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, Jay Beagle, and Lars Eller all indicated that they would go.

"The time you actually spend with whoever is in office is about two minutes long," said Orpik, who visited the White House after winning the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. "There's not much interaction with the president, at least from past experience ...

"Whether teams go or they don't go, for me, personally, and again a lot of people might disagree with this, it's not you endorsing whoever is in there or supporting whoever is in there. The White House is a very historical, special place in this country and I think it's an honor to go to the White House. That's my opinion and I'm not the one making that decision, whether or not we're going to. So we'll see."

Capitals head coach Barry Trotz cautioned that nothing has yet been decided on the subject, but said they will discuss the matter as a team.

"I have my opinion on that which is part of the process of being a championship team and other people have different opinions so I respect both," Trotz told The Post. "I haven't talked to the guys one way or the other. We haven't had any official team meetings, but I respect both sides, really I do. Whatever the group decides, we will do it. I don't know if it will be a full group, a half group, or no group, I have no idea. I think most guys have the tradition part down."

One player who surely won't be going is Devante Smith-Pelly, who made it quite clear before the Capitals even won the cup that he wouldn't accept an invitation from a "racist and sexist" President Trump.

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John Carlson, the top pending free-agent defenseman set to hit the open market on July 1, wants to stay in Washington, but admitted it's easier said than done.

"I love it here," he told reporters at the team's locker clean-out Wednesday, according to NBC Sports' Tarik El-Bashir. "I want to stay here, but there's more to it than that."

Related: How the Caps can keep Carlson and go for 2 in a row

Carlson led all NHL blue-liners with 68 points during the 2017-18 season, and added 20 more in 24 postseason games.

As a 28-year-old right-handed shooting defenseman, Carlson is bound for a nice payday. However, Washington would really have to circumvent the salary cap in order to match the offers Carlson would receive on the open market.

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Hockey players are tough creatures, and that toughness somehow gets ratcheted up a few notches in the playoffs. Case in point: Brooks Orpik and his slashed-off pinky finger.

The Washington Capitals rearguard addressed the media during the Caps' locker room cleanout Wednesday, divulging a bit of injury news in the process. "It probably looked a lot worse than it was," Orpik said of his injured digit, according to Tarik El-Bashir of NBC Sports.

"It was tough to look at, but the trainers did a really good job. It (finger) kind of fell off."

Despite the gruesome nature of the injury, which he suffered on a late third-period slash from Golden Knights forward Erik Haula in Game 2, Orpik will not require any offseason surgery.

Orpik was a complete workhorse for Washington all playoffs, not missing a single game while registering five points and a league-best plus-17 rating.

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The Los Angeles Kings traded forward Andy Andreoff to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for veteran backup goalie Peter Budaj on Wednesday.

Budaj spent the majority of two seasons with the Kings between 2015-2017 after signing a free-agent deal with L.A. in October 2015. He would go on to log a 28-20-3 record before being dealt to the Lightning in February 2017.

Most recently, the 35-year-old played in only eight contests last season for the Bolts, earning a 3-3-1 record to along with a .876 save percentage and 3.76 goals-against average.

As for Andreoff, a third-round pick of the Kings in 2011, he's registered 13 goals and 11 assists across 159 regular-season games. Andreoff's size (6-foot-1, 203 lbs) and aggressive style should provide the Lightning with an element of truculence in the team's bottom-six forward group if he's able to crack the NHL lineup.

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The Washington Capitals have been tearing D.C. up with their epic Cup celebrations over the last few days. However, one of their star players was probably just trying to numb the pain from a lingering postseason injury.

Nicklas Backstrom missed the final game of the second round and the opening three games of the Conference Finals with an upper-body injury. So on Wednesday, Backstrom revealed to the media that he suffered a couple fractures in his finger, according to Tarik El-Bashir of NBC Sports.

Prior to leaving Game 5 of Washington's series versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, Backstrom blocked multiple shots up to that point of the contest, so fractures in his finger could have easily come from that.

Regardless, Backstrom's ability to fight through injury should be praised, as he was a key contributor for the Caps and a main reason for their Cup victory, notching two goals and eight assists in the seven games after his return. He finished the entire postseason with five goals and 18 assists in 20 contests.

Backstrom will not require any offseason surgery to repair his digit.

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The Detroit Red Wings have offered one- and two-year contracts to pending unrestricted free-agent defenseman Mike Green, according to The Athletic's Craig Custance.

The two sides are close on salary, too, Custance added.

Green will be 33 years old next season and has defensive flaws. But he's still the second-best blue-liner set to the hit open market, behind only Washington Capitals rearguard John Carlson.

Green recorded 33 points in 66 games during the 2017-18 campaign, a season that ended early for the veteran when he needed surgery on his cervical spine. The injury likely won't affect his availability for the start of next season.

“I anticipate whether he signs with us or someone else, he’ll be on the ice for the first day of training camp,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told Custance. “Everything, I’m told, he should be green-lighted for the first day.”

The Red Wings are clearly in rebuilding mode, and re-signing Green may not seem to fit that direction. However, Holland said Green was the team's "best defenseman," and some of Detroit's up-and-coming defensive prospects still aren't ready for prominent NHL roles.

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Wade Belak, Rick Rypien, Steve Montador, and Derek Boogaard are four examples of former NHL enforcers who suffered through depression and eventually took their own lives.

Another former NHL enforcer, Nick Boynton, revealed in an article with The Players' Tribune on Wednesday that he's dealt with some of the same issues as the aforementioned players, whom Boynton describes as "brothers."

While he claims he's feeling more hopeful and optimistic now than he has in a long time, he still won't let his 3-year-old son, who loves hockey, play the sport.

"I cannot, in good conscience, let him play the game of ice hockey until something changes and we start looking out for our players by taking the problems of head hits and concussions - and their potential impact on mental health - more seriously," he said.

"I've seen the damage that results from that stuff firsthand. I've lived it. And to say it's been a struggle for me would be putting it way too lightly."

Boynton chronicled one instance while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, in which his concussion-caused drug addiction nearly led to his own death.

"At the tail end of my career, I really, genuinely thought that I was going to die one night during the season," he said. "It's hard to talk about, for sure, but ... I had stayed up late doing an obscene amount of coke and things just got out of control. After a while my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I couldn't get it to slow down. Nothing I did worked. It was probably the most scared I've ever been in my life."

Boynton said he needed to be at the rink a few hours later for the Flyers' morning skate and debated what to do: Go to the hospital and check in without anyone noticing or head to the arena and tell the trainer what had happened?

Earlier in Boynton's career, he had been traded less than a month after opening up about a painkiller addition to "some people with the team." He feared this could once again be the case if he opened up yet again.

"But I can tell you that, at the time, it (telling the team about cocaine use) was one of the hardest decisions I'd ever had to make," he said. "I agonized over it. Because I knew if I told the trainer, I was going to get in a ton of trouble."

Boynton, however, worked up the courage to tell the Flyers. Paul Holmgren, the team's general manager at the time, was completely supportive, sending him to rehab.

"And to this day, I honestly believe Paul saved my life back then," he said. "If I had been somewhere else, and they had just traded me away … I'd probably be dead."

Boynton played in 605 NHL games and even won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, but says he would trade it all back in a "heartbeat" so he "wouldn't have had to experience all this pain and sorrow and anger and sadness."

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