Alex Ovechkin’s 22nd NHL season will also be his last.
Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer and the face of the Capitals for more than two decades, announced Monday that the 2026-27 season will be his final one in the league. The decision comes two days before the Washington Capitals host longtime rival Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in their home opener at Capital One Arena.
Ovechkin’s message reads:
My family and I decided this summer that this will be my final year in the NHL. I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it’s the right decision.
It was important for me to make this announcement before our first home game, so I have the chance to thank all the people around the game, everyone who has been so important to me and my family and helped me through good times and tough losses. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve everything I have in my life without them.
I am excited about this season with my teammates, and we will do everything we can to make this year special. I am going to enjoy every moment with my family, my boys, our fans and everyone who has been part of my hockey career.
See you Wednesday, babes!
Ovechkin shared his decision with the team first, making a speech in front of the entire locker room on Monday morning.
Alex Ovechkin announces 2026-27 will be his final year to teammates
“This is going to be my last year,” Ovechkin said. “Like, I’m pretty sure it’s for me, for my family, it’s very important you guys know first. It’s sad. But you know, it is what it is. We have a unbelievable team this year. 82 games left. Let’s make the playoffs, let’s have fun, and enjoy the moment because you know, times fly for young guys who are first year or experienced guys. I remember that moment and, enjoy the time, because how I said times fly. It seems like yesterday I was here my first year and right now, this is my 22nd year. You know it goes like this.”
He then snapped his fingers.
“Yeah, it’s hard but let’s enjoy it and, let’s do some special thing this year.”
The team gave Ovechkin a standing ovation once he finished speaking. Tom Wilson, long assumed to be the Capitals’ next captain, was the first one to embrace Ovechkin, followed by Dylan Strome, as everyone cheered. The two players assisted on Ovechkin’s record-breaking 895th goal on April 6, 2025.
“It’s greatness,” Wilson told reporters of Ovechkin. “You can’t put it into words. I think for a lot of guys that step foot in this locker room, it’s one of the biggest honors of our career, to be able to share the ice with a legend like that. He’s great.
“He’ll be in every single Hall of Fame in the game and best goal scorer of all time. I think for all of us, it’s just been a pleasure and a privilege to watch him day in, day out.”
Ovechkin, who missed all four of the Capitals’ preseason games with a lower-body injury, will make his 2026-27 home debut on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He told reporters Monday that his family and health motivated his choice.
“It’s a hard decision for me, but how I say, I have to look in the future,” Ovechkin said. “I have to be able to play with the kids and be healthy and do little things.”
Though he contemplated retiring after last season, the Capitals’ splashy summer helped convince him to go for one last dance.
“(The) game’s changed, younger and younger,” Ovechkin said. “I saw the moves the organization did, and it (gave me) motivation to come back and play one more year.”
For the rest of the team, learning this would be their final year alongside Ovechkin was bittersweet.
“The feelings that you get inside, of hearing the finality of him saying, ‘This is going to be my last year,’ there’s like a lot of mixed emotions,” said head coach Spencer Carbery. “You’re almost — there’s sadness to it. And then I’ll turn into being super grateful of our relationship.”
The timing of Ovechkin’s announcement comes just weeks after a firestorm of criticism over his appearance in a campaign video for United Russia, Russia’s ruling political party, which supports President Vladimir Putin. The video, released ahead of Russia’s parliamentary elections, renewed scrutiny of Ovechkin’s longstanding ties to Putin and his political involvement.
Notably, Ovechkin said in the release that this will be his final season “in the NHL,” not necessarily his final season playing hockey. He has repeatedly said that he wants the final game of his playing career to come with his hometown club, Dynamo Moscow.
Ovechkin, who turned 41 on September 17, has achieved almost everything a player can accomplish in the top league in the world. He captained the Capitals to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship in 2018, and he overtook Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s greatest player of all time, to capture the all-time goals record.
Ovechkin has won 19 individual NHL awards during his career, including nine Rocket Richard Trophies, three Hart Trophies, three Ted Lindsay Awards, an Art Ross Trophy, Calder Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and Mark Messier Leadership Award.
In 1,575 career games with the Capitals, Ovechkin has recorded 1,688 points (929g, 759a). He owns the NHL records for goals (929), power-play goals (331), game-winning goals (141), overtime goals (27), road goals (476), game-opening goals (154), game-tying goals (155), go-ahead goals (297), 40-goal seasons (14), and 30-goal seasons (20). His nine 50-goal seasons are tied for the most in league history.
Ovechkin still can capture a few more nuanced records with 82 games left this season.
Ovechkin’s upcoming milestones
- 11 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (1,016) for the most combined goals (regular season + playoffs) in NHL history
- 4 assists shy of passing Nicklas Backstrom (762) for the most assists in franchise history
- 12 points shy of 1,700 career points
- 25 games shy of 1,600 career games
- 36 points shy of passing Mario Lemieux for the 9th-most points in NHL history
- 33 games shy of passing Patrick Marleau (1,607) for the 2nd-most games played with one franchise in NHL history
- 1 20-goal season shy of tying Gordie Howe (22) for the most in NHL history
With Ovechkin’s decision now set, his final regular-season home game will be against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, April 4. His final regular-season game will come against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday, April 10.
