WASHINGTON, D.C. — Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and other officials celebrated the start of an $800 million downtown arena renovation with a ceremonial sledgehammer swinging Thursday inside what will be a new atrium entryway.

The event unveiling renderings for what Capital One Arena should look like when it is fully transformed in time for the 2027-28 NHL and NBA seasons took place as questions swirled nearby on Capitol Hill about the city’s hopes of luring the NFL’s Commanders. A provision to transfer the land including RFK Stadium to the district was removed from Congress’ slimmed-down, short-term spending bill hours later, sending that team back to the drawing board.

In the Chinatown neighborhood, there were handshakes and smiles, as work to retain the Capitals and Wizards had also been ongoing for some time.

Keeping the teams was a significant victory for Bowser. They agreed last spring to remain in the city as part of a $515 million, publicly funded project, after a planned move across the Potomac River to Virginia proposed roughly a year ago fell apart in that state’s legislature.

“I’ve got to say, what a difference a year makes,” Ward 2 council member Brooke Pinto said. “Ted Leonsis, thank you so much for believing in this city. … Thank you for your dedication to our city.”

Leonsis called it a landmark day for the district and his company. His Monumental Sports and Entertainment will pay for the rest of the project, which area leaders hope will serve as a central hub of the nation’s capital between its many neighborhoods.

“When you see those signs, ‘Please excuse our dust,’ there’s going to be a lot of dust here,” Leonsis said. “This project is massive. It’ll probably take three seasons to do it, and it’s $800 million. It is a significant, significant program. But after you see what we’re going to do for the players, the fans and the city, it’ll be worth the wait.”

The work, which will take place in several stages from now through fall 2027, includes more than doubling the size of locker rooms while also adding suites and other amenities. The building initially opened in December 1997.

“This is nearly a billion-dollar investment for [players’] benefit and for the community’s benefit,” Silver said, alluding to future All-Star Games and other events that will take place. “The NBA and NHL will have less than half the dates at the end of the day because what’s happened now with these entertainment palaces — they are full, it seems, practically every night of the year.”

CHICAGO — Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek is feeling much better after a rough couple of weeks.

Mrazek was activated from injured reserve on Thursday, and goaltender Drew Commesso was assigned to the minors. Mrazek backed up Arvid Soderblom for Chicago’s 3-1 victory against Seattle.

The 32-year-old Mrazek departed a 4-2 loss to Winnipeg on Dec. 7 with a left groin injury. Then he started to come down with the flu the next day.

“It’s a relief that it wasn’t anything serious,” Mrazek said. “I felt like I was just being more careful with it. In the past you stay in the net and you get it worse. Dealing with that and then with the flu, everything in one, was the thing. Just get through it and get back on track.”

Mrazek is 7-11-1 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 20 games. He has carried a heavy workload for Chicago over the past two seasons, but he said he didn’t think that contributed to the injury.

“I’ve been dealing with a couple of things personally as well, travel a lot between Chicago and different cities,” he said. “So I think just everything came together. I felt like maybe just the body said it was enough, needed a mental break as well and get back on track now.”

Mrazek did not offer any specifics on what he has been dealing with on the personal side.

Captain Nick Foligno said it was good to have the goaltender on the ice for the morning skate before the matchup with the Kraken.

“He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do here, and he’s a great goalie,” he said. “To see him feeling good and back out is really important for our group. He brings a lot of energy.”

Kaapo Kakko doesn’t believe his criticism of the New York Rangers led to his being traded to Seattle on Wednesday night, although Kraken general manager Ron Francis believes the player’s candor might have accelerated a deal.

Kakko, 23, candidly disagreed with coach Peter Laviolette’s decision to make him a healthy scratch for the Rangers’ loss in St. Louis on Sunday. “I know we’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to take the young guy and put him out,” he said.

Kakko also noted that while his line hadn’t generated a lot of offense — the forward had four goals and 10 assists in 30 games for the Rangers — opponents hadn’t scored much when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. “I’ve not been the worst guy, [but] that was me out of the lineup,” he said Tuesday

The next day, the Rangers traded Kakko to the Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL entry draft.

An NHL source indicated that the Rangers weren’t reacting to Kakko’s comments in making that trade — that the move was made to continue to reshape the struggling team and because Kakko is a restricted free agent next summer to whom the Rangers weren’t ready to commit long term.

Kakko also believed his comments weren’t the catalyst for the trade.

“I don’t think it’s because of that. The team was playing not well enough. I was kind of waiting something is going to happen, and I knew also it might be me,” said Kakko of the Rangers, who are 3-11-0 in their past 14 games. “I mean, with those comments, I was kind of frustrated and I was honest and then that’s what I thought at the time.”

But Francis feels Kakko’s criticism might have hastened the trade.

Francis said that he and Rangers GM Chris Drury had talked about a Kakko trade for at least a week before it happened but that interest picked up in recent days.

“I would think when he was a healthy scratch that Chris got a lot of calls, not just from me. That tends to be the nature of the beast in our business. We had already started having conversations when the comments came out,” he said. “So it’s kind of an awkward situation. You’ve got a disgruntled guy in your locker room. So did that speed things up? It probably did, but at the end of the day, I think Chris wasn’t just going to do something to do something. But could have been a factor as well.”

Kakko had been vocal during his time with the Rangers about his role and the ice time he received. He admitted on Thursday that there were discussions with management about a trade last season to give him a fresh start with another team, but he stopped short of characterizing those talks as “demanding” a trade.

“Last year was kind of bad year for me. I wasn’t good enough, to be honest,” he said regarding a season when he had 13 goals and six assists in 61 games.

Rather than get that fresh start, Kakko re-upped with the Rangers in June on a one-year contract worth $2.4 million.

“I didn’t have a contract after the last season. We were thinking about what’s the best thing for me and for the team. We talked about it a little bit, but then [I] ended up signing with the Rangers and wanted to play for them,” he said.

But 31 games into this season, the Rangers are a disappointment in the Eastern Conference, sitting in sixth place in the Metro Division. They already traded captain Jacob Trouba to Anaheim in a bid to shake up the roster. Then it was Kakko’s turn.

He said he realized something was afoot when he emerged from a hotel sauna in Dallas to discover that he had missed three phone calls from Drury.

Kakko said he’s looking forward to getting started with the Kraken, seeing the trade to Seattle as a second chapter for his NHL career. In 330 NHL games, he has 61 goals and 70 assists (131 points). His career best in goals was 18 in 2020-21.

“I liked my time in New York, but it never worked out the way we wanted. I think this is a new chance for me over here, and then we’ll see how it goes,” said Kakko, who again will be a restricted free agent after the season.

Francis said the Kraken intend to give Kakko a chance to make an immediate impact, playing him in their top six forwards and giving him power-play time.

“We’ll see what the coaches want to do there, but he’s played 300 games but he’s still only 23 years old. So we just think there’s the potential for upside, and that’s why we made the deal,” Francis said.