Washington Capitals icon Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, has announced that the 2026-2027 campaign will be the final season of his prolific career.
“My family and I decided this summer that this would be my last year in the NHL,” Ovechkin, 41, said in a statement released Monday by the Capitals.
“I love this game so much, but I know deep down that this is the right decision. It was important for me to make this announcement before our first home game, so I have the opportunity to thank everyone around the game, everyone who has been so important to me and my family and who has helped me through good times and tough losses. I couldn’t have achieved everything I have in my life without them.
“I’m excited about this season with my teammates and we’ll do everything we can to make this year special. I’m going to enjoy every moment with my family, my boys, our fans and everyone who has been a part of my hockey career.”
Ovechkin added, referring to the Capitals’ home opener Wednesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins: “See you Wednesday, babies!
The Capitals also released a message that Ovechkin shared with the team Monday morning.
He told his teammates in person that this would be his last season in the league.
“For me, for my family, it’s very important that you know this first,” Ovechkin said. “And yes, it’s sad, but it is what it is. … Let’s make the playoffs, have fun and enjoy the moment because times go by quickly.
“For the young guys that (it’s your) first year, or the experienced guys, remember this moment and enjoy the time because of how I said times fly. It seems like yesterday I was here for my first year, and right now it’s my 22nd year, and it feels like this.”
Ovechkin snapped his fingers and concluded: “So yes, it’s hard, but let’s enjoy it and do some special things this year.”
The beloved Russian superstar, affectionately known as “Ovi”, was later greeted with a standing ovation in the locker room.
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Ovechkin will finish his NHL career with 22 seasons played, all with the Capitals. After this go-around, he’ll hang up his skates and end a record-breaking NHL career – one that will no doubt land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible for the first time.
The best record Ovechkin holds is NHL goals scored, which he set in April 2025 with his 895th total to break a tie with Wayne Gretzky. Since then, he has added 34 more goals to bring that total to 929.
Ovechkin put NHL goaltenders on alert in his first season in 2005-06, when he scored 52 times — the first of nine times he reached the 50-goal mark in his career. His regular season goals earned him nine Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies awarded to the league’s top scorer.
Ovechkin, the Capitals’ number one pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, also holds the record for most 40-goal seasons with 14 and is tied with Gretzky and Mike Bossy with nine 50-goal seasons.
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Goal marks aren’t the only accomplishments in Ovechkin’s career. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2005–06 as Rookie of the Year, and he won an Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading point scorer, earned eight NHL First Team All-Star honors and appeared in nine NHL All-Star Games, as well as becoming a three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner as the league’s MVP.
In 2017, Ovechkin was named one of 100 Greatest NHL Players of All Time.
During the first decade of his NHL career, while Ovechkin scored regularly, there was one thing missing: a Stanley Cup title.
After failing to reach the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 1998, the Capitals exorcised their playoff demons by not only beating the Penguins for the first time in nine series, but also winning the first championship in franchise history in 2018.
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Ovechkin was voted the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after scoring 15 goals and 27 points in 24 games with the Capitals during the playoffs. He would celebrate accordingly that summer.
Although the Capitals have yet to match that success in the playoffs, Ovechkin has continued his scoring exploits. Over the next eight seasons, he scored two 50-goal campaigns and three 40-goal campaigns.
One achievement that eluded Ovechkin was an Olympic gold medal. Russia has not won a medal in the three tournaments it has participated in, including the 2014 tournament in Sochi. However, he had other success on the international stage, with three World Championship gold medals and a World Junior Championship gold medal in 2003, a year before being drafted by the Capitals.
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Ovechkin’s resume is long and his impact on hockey and the NHL is immeasurable. His influence on the game is reflected in the skills of today’s young players. The Hall of Fame will be there for him three years after the end of the 2026-27 season, unless the Hall decides (rightly) to make an exception and allow early entry, as it did for Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr, among others.
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