How many goals will Alex Ovechkin score this season?
As he enters what could be his final season, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will set a new NHL record for most goals whenever he scores another one in 2026-27.
Ovechkin, 41, racked up 32 goals and 64 points in 82 games with the Capitals during the 2025-26 regular season, putting his career totals up to 929 goals and 1,687 points in 1,573 games — and that doesn’t include his 77 goals and 147 points in 161 playoff contests.
After much speculation about his future, the Great 8 re-upped with Washington for another year at a $4.25 million cap hit, with up to $4.75 million in achievable performance bonuses. And with the Capitals suddenly looking like one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference on paper, Ovechkin could be in line for yet another highly productive season.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton debated exactly how many goals they expect Ovechkin to score in the 2026-27 season. Here’s an excerpt from their conversation:
Tyler Yaremchuk: Can he find a way to get to 1,000 career regular-season goals? He’s at 929, so it’s going to take him at least two seasons. You look at bet365, they have his over-under for the year at 28.5, so they’re maybe a little down on Ovi, who still found a way to put up north of 30 last season. But let’s start with your first fill-in-the-blank, Hutts: Alex Ovechkin will finish the season with _______ goals?
Carter Hutton: I’m gonna say 30. I just don’t think he stops, I think this team is deeper now, there’s other attractions that are gonna take pressure off of him to score. I think the way he manages his game … they’ve put him in a situation to win, they’re gonna manage that workload. I still think, him leading the team last year, he played so well over 82 games, he turned 41 this year, I’m gonna go 30.
Yaremchuk: Yeah, I’ll go a touch higher than you. He had 32 last season, he shot 13.1 percent which is his dead-on career average. I think he can get 32 again. I’m just fascinated to see with all these new pieces they brought in, they brought in a lot of wingers who are objectively better, complete, full, 5-on-5 hockey players than Alex Ovechkin is at this stage in his career, so I’m really curious to see what it does to his minutes — and it’s worth noting that his minutes have decreased in five straight seasons for the Capitals. He’s still going to eat on the power play, he’s Alexander Ovechkin, but my questions for Ovi come at 5-on-5.
Watch the full episode here:
