Capitals’ Ovechkin ‘doesn’t know yet’ if 2025-26 will be final NHL season
Will this be Alex Ovechkin’s final season? Even he’s not sure.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday as NHL training camps open, the Washington Capitals’ captain says he doesn’t know if the 2025-26 campaign will be his last in the NHL, adding that he hasn’t spoken with GM Chris Patrick or team owner Ted Leonsis. But the Moscow, Russia, native says there is plenty of time to sort it out.
Alex Ovechkin said he doesn't know yet if this will be his final season in the NHL. Said he hasn't talked about it yet with GM Chris Patrick or owner Ted Leonsis, but there will be plenty of time to do that.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 18, 2025
Ovechkin is entering the final season of a five-year, $47.5 million contract he signed in July 2021, which pays him an annual average value (AAV) of $9.5 million.
Earlier in the day, Ovechkin left the ice with an apparent lower-body injury, but according to Capitals’ head coach Spencer Carbery, the injury is “nothing significant” and that they took him off the ice as a precautionary measure.
Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin leaves Day 1 of training camp early; team says injury ‘nothing significant’ https://t.co/GiLWFkQ18F
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) September 18, 2025
Ovechkin, who turned 40 on Wednesday, is coming off a season for the ages, scoring 44 goals and 29 assists for 73 points in just 65 regular-season games. The Russian winger broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record of 894, finishing the year with 897.
Now entering his 21st NHL campaign, Ovechkin has 897 goals and 726 assists for 1,623 points in 1,491 career regular-season games. He ranks 11th on the NHL’s all-time points list and is only 18 points behind Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Sakic for 10th.
Ovechkin, taken No. 1 overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, has recorded nine 50-goal campaigns and has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy nine times, awarded to the player with the most goals during an NHL regular season. He’s also won the Hart Trophy three times, awarded to the league’s most valuable player. He led the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2018, also winning the Conn Smythe Trophy.
The Capitals finished the 2024-25 season with a 51-22-9 record and 111 points, winning the Metropolitan Division and finishing first in the Eastern Conference. After defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they were eliminated in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes.