Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin won’t decide on playing future until summer
The future of the greatest goal scorer in NHL history will be decided…at a later date.
In an interview with longtime Washington Capitals radio broadcaster John Walton, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was asked about his future with the team and hockey in general.
He revealed that his decision won’t be made until after the 2025-26 season comes to an end.
Alex Ovechkin sat down with John Walton to discuss his plans to take time after the season to reflect and consult with his family before determining his future this summer. Catch their full conversation tonight on Caps Pregame Live on @MonSportsNet
“We’re going to make a decision in the summer,” Ovechkin said. “I have to talk to my family, with [team owner Ted Leonsis], with [general manager Chris Patrick], [president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan], and we have to make a decision in the summer.”
There has been plenty of speculation about whether Ovechkin will be retiring after this season. After breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record last season, the Russian sniper became the first player to reach 900 goals back in November. The milestones continued to pile up for the GR8. Along with becoming the second NHLer to post 21 consecutive 20-goal seasons, he tied the late Gordie Howe for the most 25-goal seasons in an NHL career, joining Gretzky as the only other NHL player to score 1,000 goals (regular season and playoffs combined), as well as becoming the fourth 40-plus-year-old player to register 30 goals in a season.
Yet, despite all of the accolades and the underlying possibility of 1,000 regular-season goals, Ovechkin recognizes that he isn’t getting any younger and wants to make sure he’ll be able to live a healthy life well after he hangs up his skates.
“Health-wise, I’m going to be 41 years old in September. So, you just have to be smart about it.”
Whether he returns for the 2026-27 campaign or decides to call it a day, Ovechkin will go down as the greatest goal scorer the game has ever seen. In 1,569 regular-season games, he has scored 928 goals and 756 assists for 1,684 points – good for 10th all-time. He has reached the 50-goal mark an impressive nine times, tied for the most historically with Gretzky and Mike Bossy. Ovechkin has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy a record nine times, the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award three times, the 2007-08 Art Ross Trophy, and the Conn Smythe Trophy when he led the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup in 2018.