There are no puffs of smoke coming from the chimney in Moscow, not yet anyway. But as Alex Ovechkin summers back home, wrestling with a decision about whether to lace up the skates for a 22nd NHL season at age 41, the news of what is happening in the American capital must have reached the Russian capital.No, no, not the 250th anniversary of the United States and the celebrations around it. (Look away from the Reflecting Pool, please.) Rather, the hockey news: On back-to-back days, the Washington Capitals made trades that drastically upgraded both their lineup and their payroll.Ovi, did you notice?What we know about Ovechkin’s decision-making process: He left town without informing the Caps whether he intends to play again — though he publicly hinted that he wasn’t done. But before he departed, he also indicated to the team — from owner Ted Leonsis to president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan to general manager Chris Patrick — that he was keenly interested in what the Caps could and would do to upgrade a roster that barely missed the playoffs last season.Those upgrades: How about Alex Tuch to play left wing and Jordan Kyrou to play right wing — each on one of the top two lines? Tuch, who comes via a sign-and-trade with Buffalo and will make a team-high $10.5 million a year for the next eight seasons, has scored 30 goals three times in the past four years. Kyrou, who arrives in a trade and has five years and $40.625 million remaining on the contract he signed with the St. Louis Blues, also has three 30-goal campaigns in his last four years.And the Capitals still have enough cap space remaining to go land a defenseman in free agency.How’s that sound, Ovi? Like a team in win-now mode?This is not a plea to get Ovechkin to play another year. The NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer has nothing left to prove. If the next time he showed up at Capital One Arena is to watch his No. 8 be raised to the rafters, no problem. It’s clear everyone with the Caps feels he’s earned the right to make whatever decision best suits him.What it is to say: The aggressiveness MacLellan and Patrick have shown makes Ovechkin more likely to play another year. Consider what Leonsis told me last month.“He’s asked: ‘How can we have a great team? What do we need to do? What are we gonna do in the draft? What are we going to do with trades? What are we doing in free agency?’” Leonsis said. “I think that’s all gonna come as part of his mix. He’s being very thoughtful.”Considering the new additions, the thoughtfulness has to include a realistic view of what role would remain for Ovechkin should he return. He’s coming off a season in which he averaged a career-low 17 minutes, 27 seconds of ice time — appropriate for a 40-year-old. Perhaps more meaningfully, just more than 12 of those minutes came in five-on-five situations.Coach Spencer Carbery has done a masterful job of both squeezing what’s left out of the franchise’s best-ever player — Ovechkin led the Caps in both goals (32) and points (64) in 2025-26 — while simultaneously masking the deficiencies that come with age. It’s a tap dance that involves respectful lineup management and situational deployment. It’s not easy, but it’s doable.So, then, where does a 41-year-old Ovechkin fit? The top six forwards on the new-look Caps would appear to be Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dylan Strome at center, Aliaksei Protas and Tuch on the left wing and Kyrou and veteran Tom Wilson on the right side. (Side note: The idea of the 6-foot-4, 219-pound Tuch playing on the same team — and even the same line — as the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wilson is … something else.)Ovechkin has to look at that lineup, consider the tread on his own tires and realize he fits in on what’s likely to be a third line that could be centered by soon-to-be-20-year-old Ilya Protas, Aliaksei’s little brother, with Justin Sourdif on the opposite wing. Though does that bump up-and-comer Ryan Leonard to fourth-line minutes? Isn’t he too talented for that?Whatever. That’s for Carbery and his staff to sort out. Which they will. There’s time.The point is that, with two announcements in two days, the Capitals positioned themselves for a return to the postseason and thus made the situation more enticing for their captain to come back — while making it more difficult to find him minutes should he do so. These are good problems to have!What’s left? The NHL draft is Friday and Saturday, and even though the Capitals dealt a first-round pick to St. Louis in the trade for Kyrou, they still have the 18th pick. Beyond that: Free agency begins July 1. Top-pair defenseman Rasmus Sandin will be out to start the season following knee surgery. Might MacLellan and Patrick track down a defenseman — and might Ovechkin notice?The Capitals’ front office and ownership went into this offseason knowing they almost certainly wouldn’t hear about Ovechkin’s intentions until they had made other moves to shape their roster. That might have seemed weird at first. Would the greatest goal scorer in history really hold hostage the only franchise for which he has played?Turns out it didn’t matter. The NHL’s increased salary cap and some contracts that came off the books meant the Capitals had room to maneuver regardless of when and what Ovechkin decided. According to Spotrac, the Caps have some $12.7 million remaining in cap space. More moves can be made.It says here that one of those moves will be re-signing Ovechkin. That’s not because the Capitals need him. It’s because with two splashy trades, the Capitals made their roster more prepared for the playoffs — which makes their situation more appealing for the best player in their history.