Alex Ovechkin is facing a big decision this summer.
The 40-year-old future Hockey Hall of Famer is set to decide if he wants to continue his hockey career or officially hang up his skates as his five-year contract with the Washington Capitals officially ends on July 1.
While we await news of Ovechkin’s choice, the only thing we can do is read the tea leaves. And the tea leaves tell us, Ovechkin is choosing to stay in good physical condition back home.
Since flying back to Russia last Wednesday, Ovechkin has been photographed several times by one of his closest friends, Gus, working up a sweat by playing padel — a tennis-squash hybrid played on an enclosed court.
Late this week, Ovechkin, along with his wife, Nastya Ovechkina, played against Ksenia Borodina, a Russian television presenter and actress, and businessman, Maxim Kazantsev, as documented on Borodina’s Instagram.
Ovechkin also took the court with Stanislav Ishchenko earlier in the week, a professional hockey player who made it as high as the top minor leagues in Russia.
In all the photos, Ovechkin wears a navy blue Capitals hat.
The workouts come as Ovechkin finished the 2025-26 campaign — his 21st in the NHL — with a team-leading 32 goals after suiting up in all 82 games of the season, pushing his NHL record in tallies to 929.
During his Breakdown Day interview with reporters, Ovechkin told the media that he’s “pretty sure” he hasn’t played his last game, but that there were conditions for a potential return.
“Obviously, if I want to come back, it has to be a decision,” Ovechkin said. “First of all, we’re going to make playoffs, and we have to fight for a Cup. That’s probably the biggest thing. Otherwise, if you take different scenario, like family-wise, health-wise, but in team-wise, I think this is the most important thing for me.”
Ovechkin added that as he’s gotten older, he’s had to be even more dedicated to his offseason training to maintain his level of play.
“It’s up to me, how I’m gonna handle my body, how I’m gonna train, and everything,” Ovechkin said. “When you in the season and you have 25-30 minutes skate it’s nice, but in the summer you have to work your ass off to get better and be in shape. When you’re 20, it’s normal thing, but when you’re 40, it’s kind of hard and harder every year. So, I’m going to talk to (my personal trainer) Pavel, and I will figure out, and I’ll see what’s decision gonna be, and from that we gonna prepare.”
As Ovechkin remains undecided, former Capitals teammate TJ Oshie believed his former captain would return for another season, while current teammate Aliaksei Protas shared that he thought Ovi could play in the NHL until he’s 50 if he wanted to. Capitals management has also maintained publicly that they’d leave the decision purely up to Ovechkin.
If Ovechkin opts to come back, he has one prominent record that he could realistically break: Ovi (1,006) sits 10 goals behind Wayne Gretzky (1,016) for a share of the NHL’s total goals record, which combines regular-season and postseason goals.
