Reports: Alex Ovechkin Signs With KHL’s Dynamo Moscow

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has signed with Dynamo Moscow of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, according to reports from Russia.

"Of course I think about it because my hometown have teams and my Russian Federation have a league," Ovechkin said earlier this month when asked about his lockout plans. "Of course I'm probably gonna be there."

Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, played for Dynamo from 2001-05 (including the locked out 2004-05 NHL season) before jumping to the NHL for the 2005-06 season.

Ovechkin's decision ends some confusion regarding whether or not his former club was interested in his services during the NHL lockout, which officially began Saturday evening. Fellow KHL club CSKA Moscow reportedly also had interest in the 27-year-old -- former Cap Sergei Fedorov is the team's general manager -- but KHL president Alexander Medvedev said that Dynamo had a "moral right" to Ovechkin's services.

With Ovechkin's signing, he becomes the second Washington player to sign elsewhere during the lockout; goaltender Michal Neuvirth signed with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga earlier this week.

When asked about his thoughts on the NHL lockout in a recent Russian interview, Ovechkin said that the cancellation of the entire 2012-13 NHL season is "an absolute reality...if the [NHL] continues to insist on their [demands]."

Ovechkin will reportedly earn more than 65 percent of his 2012-13 NHL salary while in the KHL, even though the league said that locked out players can only receive up to that amount. In Ovechkin's case, 65 percent of his $9 million salary is $5.85 million. He is contractually obligated to return to Washington if and when the labor negotiations are settled.