Alex Ovechkin may still be considering his return to the NHL next season with the Washington Capitals, but he is definitely going to be on the ice this summer either way.
The 40-year-old winger is set to lace his skates up and again play in the annual “Match of the Year” on July 25. The friendly charity game is organized by fellow Russian NHLers Artemi Panarin and Mikhail Sergachev, and Ovechkin has participated in the previous two matchups, which have featured NHL stars taking on KHL players.
This year’s event will take place outside of Moscow for the first time, hosted at the home rink of KHL club SKA Saint Petersburg, SKA Arena.
Last year, Ovechkin was joined on the NHL side by former Capitals teammates Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as Sergachev, Panarin, Evgeni Malkin, Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Svechnikov, Pavel Buchnevich, Dmitry Kulikov, Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, Alexander Nikishin, Ilya Lyubushkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Vladislav Gavrikov, Andrei Kuzmenko, Artem Zub, Vasily Podkolzin, Alexander Romanov, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Kirill Kaprizov.
The KHL side featured familiar names like Vadim Shipachyov, Vladimir Tkachev, Alexander Radulov, Nikolai Goldobin, Nikita Nesterov, Dmitrij Jaškin, and Vitaly Kravtsov.
Ovechkin was super busy during last year’s game, first being honored for breaking the NHL goals record and being gifted a new car. He then scored a goal in the eventual 15-3 win for the NHL players, skating on his team’s first line with Panarin and Svechnikov. During the first intermission, he also impressively operated a mounted turret t-shirt cannon.
The full rosters for this year’s contest have not yet been revealed. The event’s social media account has teased the involvement of some participants, including Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev, and has even jokingly mentioned inviting Canadian stars like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.
Ovechkin recently returned to Russia with his family after his 21st career NHL season with the Capitals. He is set to decide whether to return for a 22nd year sometime this summer, as his contract with the club expires on July 1.
