Capitals interested in playing regular-season game in Russia in next 2 years

The Washington Capitals have expressed interest in playing the first-ever NHL regular-season game in Russia, and they're hoping to do so as soon as possible.

"We've talked about different things overseas, and we've talked about some in Russia or some in Sweden," Capitals president Dick Patrick told Isabelle Khurshudyan and Samantha Pell of The Washington Post. "We're not sure; it's a league decision. They've talked about China, too, which would be like an exhibition game. I personally wasn't too intrigued with that. I think it is just too hard on players during training camp.

"It could happen next year or the year after. If we are going to do it, it would probably be one of those years."

The NHL announced earlier in November that the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators will play regular-season games in Prague, Czech Republic, next season as a part of the 2020 Global Series, while the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche will travel to Finland.

Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov make the Capitals an obvious fit to play a game in Russia, and commissioner Gary Bettman alluded to the possibility of an NHL tilt there when he announced the sites of the 2020 international contests.

"If we're going to play games in Russia - and we know there's great interest in our game there - it would most likely be, from our standpoint, regular-season games with two NHL teams," Bettman said at the time.