Ovechkin's lower-body injury is old news. Here's what still isn't settled.

The coach called it "not too serious" on Wednesday, and that's probably true. Day-to-day designations in late September preseason don't usually become October problems. But I've written this story twice now, and the thing that keeps nagging at me isn't the injury itself — it's the margin Washington is operating with heading into this opener.

Ovechkin is 40 and committed to one more season. Last year he played 48 games and posted 40 points, which for most players his age would be a graceful wind-down. For Washington, it's the engine. The offseason was built around him coming back — the Jenner signing, the Leonard and Sourdif extensions, the entire continuity argument — and all of that holds together only if he's healthy and producing from game one. A slow start, even a short one, matters more for this team than it would for a younger roster with more slack in the lineup.

The Capitals already lost Connor McMichael to St. Louis and went into camp with Rasmus Sandin's blue-line status unresolved. They went 13-18 in one-goal games last season — the kind of number that tells you depth and execution were problems well before the final standings confirmed it. None of that gets easier if the top of the lineup is shorthanded in early October.

The coach's "not too serious" is probably the right read. But this franchise doesn't have a lot of room for probably right now.