Alex Ovechkin has repeatedly left the door open to finishing his career with Dynamo Moscow, and the KHL club’s new CEO is already preparing for that possibility.
Anatoly Kharchuk, appointed to his position with Dynamo this past July, recently sat down with Ovechkin and told the Washington Capitals’ captain that he plans to be there when he eventually returns to his hometown club.
Kharchuk, who was previously president of Dynamo when Ovechkin was with the team in the early 2000s, shared details of the conversation with Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov.
“I met with Sasha recently, and I said: It was 2004, your Super League championship season; we worked together then,” Kharchuk said, as translated via Google Translate. “Oddly enough, I’ve just returned, and you’ve already said several times that you might retire at Dynamo. This time, Sasha, I’ll definitely be waiting for you! And I’ll make sure we finish this magnificent story together.”
Ovechkin has already said this summer that he will play his last professional hockey game for Dynamo, committed to moving back to Moscow once his NHL career with the Capitals is over, and his mother, Tatyana Ovechkina, has said that she hopes he eventually returns to his childhood club.
Kharchuk wants to make sure Dynamo is ready for that possibility, formulating plans for management’s roster strategy once Ovechkin signs on the dotted line.
“There are mega-people like Sasha Ovechkin in various fields,” Kharchuk said. “And it’s precisely around people like him that teams are always built, whether in science, in life, or anywhere, including hockey. If Sasha returns, I think we’ll work to build a team around him. Because Sasha is a truly extraordinary individual.”
Ovechkin has played parts of five seasons at the senior level for Dynamo in his storied career, starting with 21 games during the 2001-02 season as a 15-year-old. He then departed in 2005 to play his rookie season with the Capitals but did return to play 31 games for Dynamo during the 2012-13 NHL lockout, where he was credited as part of their eventual Gagarin Cup team that season.
The Great 8 also remains a senior advisor to Dynamo, a role he has held since 2010 and one Kharchuk expects him to keep. Kharchuk pointed to Ovechkin’s continued involvement with the organization, specifically its youth academy, as evidence that the legendary goal scorer has never strayed too far from the team.
“[Ovechkin has] become even wiser, very self-possessed, a man,” Kharchuk said. “He’s such a dad; he keeps in touch with everyone. And he’s so accessible. I had an experience at the Dynamo Sports School. I asked a guy about how he’d ended up there. Ovechkin saw him at a practice somewhere and recommended him, and Dynamo accepted him into the academy.
“Sasha has never let go of his finger on the pulse of his hometown club, and he never will. And if Ovechkin returns to Dynamo, it will be a colossal success for all of our hockey. And for Dynamo, first and foremost.”
For now, though, Ovechkin remains with the Capitals after signing a one-year extension with Washington in early July. While he has said that he wants to return to Dynamo for the end of his playing days, he has not yet committed to the 2026-27 season being his final year in North America.
The upcoming campaign will mark Ovechkin’s 22nd in the NHL. He will be 41 years old and will be sitting at 929 career goals on Opening Night.
