Alex Ovechkin‘s farewell tour officially begins Tuesday night, and even his coaches and teammates don’t know exactly what to expect.
Ovechkin will play his final regular-season game at Lenovo Center when the Capitals visit the Carolina Hurricanes. With the Caps captain announcing last week that the 2026-27 season will be his last in the NHL, Tuesday marks the first stop of what should be an emotional tour through opposing arenas this year.
“This will be our first crack at it and kind of see what teams [do],” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after Monday’s practice. “I’m sure we’re going to get the full gauntlet of it and see how different teams handle it differently. This will be new for us as well.”
Carbery wasn’t sure whether the Hurricanes have anything planned for Ovechkin, saying he didn’t want to “put Carolina in a bad spot” by making any concrete assumptions.
“I would assume there’s some type of reception for him, whether it’s a video or post-game,” Carbery said. “I’m not really sure. This will be the last time he’s going to walk off the ice in Lenovo. It’ll be the last time he walks off as an NHL player.”
Dylan Strome, Ovechkin’s longtime linemate, also isn’t sure what to expect from the Hurricanes, especially with the matchup coming just six games into Washington’s schedule. Ovechkin won’t be making another “last visit” to another arena until much later in the month, when the Capitals travel to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on October 29.
“As a team, it’s hard to say because it’s so early on in the season that I’m not sure how big of a reception or ceremony it’s going to be,” Strome said. “Obviously, he deserves it.”
Strome believes the timing could lead to a more subdued celebration than what Ovechkin might get later in the calendar. However, he still expects Carolina to acknowledge the longtime Capitals captain to some extent.
“I feel like it might be a little bit tapered down tomorrow per se, but he’s played so many games in Carolina that I think they’ll give him somewhat of a send-off, I’m sure,” Strome said. “And I guess then it’s up to how the crowd reacts. I think that’s something that we can’t really control. If it happens, I think that it’s well-deserved and well-warranted.”
As Strome mentioned, Ovechkin has plenty of history with the Hurricanes. During his illustrious career, Ovechkin has not recorded more points against any other NHL franchise than his 111 points (53g, 58a) in 97 games against Carolina. He has also scored more career goals against only two other franchises: the Winnipeg Jets (58) and the Philadelphia Flyers (54).
There’s also a practical reason why Strome isn’t expecting anyone to get too caught up in whatever happens around Ovechkin. The Hurricanes are the defending Stanley Cup champions and still one of the NHL’s top teams, and Washington could very well see them again later this season in Raleigh given how the league sets up its playoff bracket.
“There’s a good chance we’ll see them in the playoffs at some point, I hope, with how good they are,” Strome said. “So we’ll see what happens, but I think we’ll just adjust to either one.”
Many members of the Capitals’ current roster, including Strome, have experience with a similar tour from just a couple of seasons ago. During Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record during the 2024-25 campaign, opposing arenas routinely erupted whenever he touched the puck.
Even when Ovechkin was still dozens of goals away from breaking the record, NHL fans knew they were watching history every time he jumped over the boards. And once he overtook Gretzky, even Penguins fans in Pittsburgh cheered him on.
“I think we got used to it, obviously, a couple years ago in that chase,” Strome said. “I do think it’s similar to that where he’s still like 30 goals away at certain times and the rink was still kind of buzzing and going crazy. I think it would be similar to that, where it’s still going to be electric, and I think there’s going to be people giving him the reception he deserves there.”
After Carolina’s goodbye on Tuesday, Ovechkin won’t play another final regular-season game in a division rival’s building until January 24, when the Capitals visit the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
Overall, Ovechkin’s farewell tour will include 2 stops in October, 2 in November, 6 in December, 6 in January, 3 in February, 9 in March, and 4 in April, including his last regular-season home game inside Capital One Arena.
