Alex Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals captain and the NHL’s career leader in goals, said on Monday that the 2026-27 season, his 22nd in the league, will be his last.
Ovechkin, who turned 41 on Sept. 17, told his teammates in the dressing room in Arlington, Va., before the club posted video of the moment and a statement from him. Monday was 21 years to the day after his NHL debut. Washington plays its home opener against Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“This is going to be my last year,” he told the players, according to The New York Post’s account of the video. “It’s sad, but it is what it is. We have a f---ing unbelievable team this year and 82 games left. Let’s make the playoffs, let’s have fun and enjoy the moment, because, you know, times fly.”
“It seems like yesterday I was here my first year and right now this is my 22nd year,” he said, then snapped his fingers. “It goes like this.” The room applauded when he finished, The Post reported.
In the statement, Ovechkin said he and his family had made the decision over the summer. “I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it’s the right decision,” he said. He wanted to announce it before the first home game so he could thank the people who had helped him through good times and tough losses, he said, and he signed off: “See you Wednesday, babes!”
He gave reporters a plainer reason later in the day. “I’m not 20 years old,” he said. “I want to play with my kids when they’re growing up. Play hockey, play soccer, play basketball. I want to be healthy enough to do that kind of stuff.”
Nobody was caught off guard. Ovechkin signed a one-year contract this summer, and he had said health would be the biggest factor in his decision.
He enters the final year with 929 goals and 759 assists in 1,575 regular-season games, all with Washington, according to the Capitals. He passed Wayne Gretzky for the goals record in April 2025, against the Islanders. Last season he played all 82 games and scored 32 goals, and he has reached 30 in every season but 2020-21, when he played 45 games.
The playoffs offer one more list to climb, if Washington gets there. The Capitals missed them last season. Ovechkin’s 77 postseason goals rank 12th, one behind Jaromir Jagr and two behind Jean Beliveau in 10th, The Post reported.
The front office built for a run. It traded for Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch and signed forward Boone Jenner and defenseman Vincent Desharnais. In the season-opening win at Carolina, Ovechkin played 12 minutes 46 seconds, the lowest ice time of his career in a game when he wasn’t hurt or ejected, according to The Associated Press and The Canadian Press, whose reporting CBC carried.
Washington drafted him first overall in 2004. He won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in 2005-06, three Hart Trophies as most valuable player and the Conn Smythe in 2018, when he led the Capitals to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Sidney Crosby arrived the same season, and in four playoff meetings between them, in 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the winner went on to take the Cup.
“Before we even met, we were kind of built up against each other,” Crosby said. “Over the years developed a friendship with him.”
Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins center taken second in that 2004 draft, said: “He do everything for team, for league. I hope he plays good this year, no injury, he just stay healthy, score goals and enjoy the game.”
The season opened under a cloud. Ovechkin appeared during the offseason in a video that The Post described as a Putin campaign video and CBC described as an ad for a party aligned with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. He confirmed last month that he would move back to Russia after he retires. “I’m not in politics. I can’t say who’s right and who’s wrong,” he told ESPN on Sept. 17 when asked about the invasion of Ukraine. Road crowds at Carolina and Tampa Bay showed little sign of hostility, CBC reported.
The Capitals said they would announce a new farewell initiative on the 8th of each month from November through the end of the regular season, Yahoo Sports reported. A pledge he started at his 885th goal, matched by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, has raised more than $256,000 for pediatric cancer research, according to the team.
Within a couple of hours of the news, the cheapest StubHub tickets for the April 4 home finale against Pittsburgh cost $825. Because Washington hosts college hockey’s Frozen Four next year, the Capitals close with three road games. The last is scheduled for April 10 in Philadelphia.