Alex Ovechkin announced on Monday that the 2026-27 season will be his last in the NHL.
The 41-year-old Washington winger made the announcement two games into his 22nd season in the league and two days before the Caps’ home opener, which he said gives him a chance to properly give thanks to those around him as he winds down his NHL journey.
He added that he made the decision alongside his family this past summer.
“I know in my heart it’s the right decision,” he said as part of a statement released through the team.
Ovechkin’s list of accomplishments on the ice is as long as just about any player in NHL history. It’s headlined by arguably the most impressive record in the sport when he scored goal No. 895 to surpass Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history in April of 2025. Now at 929 regular-season markers and counting, every goal puts Ovechkin further down the road on a record that may never be broken.
But there are still plenty of milestones for Ovechkin to conquer as he closes out his career. And a lot of them are well within reach, too.
While he’s long passed Gretzky on the regular-season goals list, he still trails The Great One by 10 on the league’s all-time goals tally when combining the regular season and playoffs. To date, Gretzky has played in 47 more postseason games than Ovechkin and scored 45 more goals.
Ovechkin has a total of 77 playoff goals in 161 postseason games with 15 of them coming during his lone Stanley Cup run in 2018. Gretzky tallied 122 goals in 208 games en route to his four Cups, leaving Ovechkin’s combined career total of 1,006 goals just shy of Gretzky’s 1,016.
Assuming Ovechkin stays healthy and performs similar to his pace from the last few years, he’s likely to pass Gretzky at some point during the first half of the 2026-27 season.
| Player | Goals (Reg. Season) | Points (Reg. Season) | Goals (Playoffs) | Points (Playoffs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gretzky | 894 | 2,857 | 122 | 382 |
| Ovechkin | 929 | 1,688 | 77 | 147 |
It’s not the only milestone left for Ovechkin that feels like an inevitability.
In terms of round numbers, the Moscow native is 25 regular-season games shy of reaching 1,600 and 12 points shy of 1,700. Currently 10th on the career points list, a strong final season should bump him up a few spots. He is 35 points back of Mario Lemieux for ninth, and 67 shy of Steve Yzerman in eighth. Sidney Crosby – who is two years younger and has shown no signs of slowing down – is seventh at 1,763, 75 ahead of Ovechkin.
Marcel Dionne (1,771) and Ron Francis (1,798) are likely out of reach at sixth and fifth, respectively.
| Player | Points |
|---|---|
| Gretzky | 2,857 |
| Jagr | 1,921 |
| Messier | 1,887 |
| Howe | 1,850 |
| Francis | 1,798 |
| Dionne | 1,771 |
| Crosby | 1,763 |
| Yzerman | 1,755 |
| Lemieux | 1,723 |
| Ovechkin | 1,688 |
As far as Capitals franchise records go, Ovechkin is the runaway leader in games played (1,575), goals (929), points (1,688) and seasons played (22). But he needs four assists to pass long-time linemate Nicklas Backstrom, who leads Ovechkin 762 to 759. The Great 8 has already closed the gap on helpers this season as he picked up an assist for his first point of 2026-27 in the team’s 5-2 opening-night victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Friday.
Longevity has been one of the hallmarks of Ovechkin’s Hall-of-Fame career.
He’s scored at least 20 goals in all 21 of his completed NHL seasons, even in the league’s COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 campaign when he tallied 24 in 45 games. If he’s able to score at least 20 again in his final season, he’ll tie Gordie Howe for the most 20-plus goal seasons in league history.
One area he won’t catch Howe in is games played with a single team. Howe’s 1,687 with the Red Wings stands as the regular-season NHL record and Ovechkin is more than 100 behind at 1,575. However, he’s got Patrick Marleau in his sights for the second most all-time, who played in 1,607 with the San Jose Sharks over his 23-year NHL career.
Ovechkin was drafted first overall by the Capitals in 2004 and has helped lead the team to 10 division titles, three Presidents’ Trophies, and a Stanley Cup championship in 2018 thus far.
The eight-time, first-team all-star won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2018 after recording 15 goals and 27 points in 24 games.
Ovechkin is a three-time Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner (2008, 2009, 2013) and has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy nine times as the league’s leading goal scorer.
For all the reminiscing that’s sure to happen as Ovechkin completes his final NHL journey, he emphasized the focus remains on winning.
“We have an unbelievable team this year,” Ovechkin told his teammates in a video posted to social media on Monday.
“[There are] 82 games left. Let’s make the playoffs, let’s have fun and enjoy the moment because time flies. For young guys who [are in] first year or experienced guys, remember that moment and enjoy it because, how I said, time flies. It seems like yesterday I was here my first year and right now this is my 22nd year and it goes like this. So, it’s hard, but let’s enjoy it and let’s do some special things this year, all right.”
