Washington Capitals icon Alex Ovechkin hasn’t decided if the upcoming season will be his last, he told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti at training camp Thursday.
Ovechkin, who turned 40 on Wednesday, is entering the final campaign of a five-year contract signed in 2021. He noted he hasn’t spoken with Capitals management about an extension to this point.
The 2025-26 season will be Ovechkin’s 21st in the NHL after the Capitals drafted him first overall in 2004. He was one of the league’s biggest stories last campaign, scoring 44 goals in 65 games to eclipse Wayne Gretzky as the league’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
Ovechkin’s resurgence helped Washington to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but the Carolina Hurricanes ultimately ousted the club in the second round of the playoffs.
Not long after being eliminated, the Capitals denied that 2025-26 would be Ovechkin’s last campaign, following an email from the team’s sales department to season-ticket holders that suggested otherwise.
Ovechkin enters the upcoming season on the cusp of becoming the first player ever to score 900 goals and is only nine games shy of 1,500 for his career.
The Capitals open the regular season Oct. 8 against the Boston Bruins.
