Earlier on Thursday, an email from the Washington Capitals said next season would be Alex Ovechkin’s last in the NHL.
The team later announced that message in the promotional email about next season was a mistake.
“No decision has been made on Alex Ovechkin’s future following the 2025-26 NHL season,” the team said in a statement to social media. “An email was sent from an individual with the corporate sales department that mistakenly alluded to next year being Alex Ovechkin’s final year.”
The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber reported the Capitals said the claim in the email was inaccurate before the team posted the statement.
The email that was sent out to the Capitals season ticket holders read, “October – the start of Capitals hockey and Alex Ovechkin’s FINAL NHL SEASON.”
Next season will be Ovechkin’s 21st NHL campaign. It will also be the final year of the five-year contract he signed in July 2021. He’ll be in a position to reach the 1,500-game plateau and the 900-goal mark.
Ovechkin is coming off a history-making campaign with the Capitals, where he broke the all-time regular-season goal record set by Wayne Gretzky. He scored goal No. 895 against the New York Islanders and earned sole possession of the record. He’s also 43 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record for the most goals in the regular season and playoffs. Gretzky is at 1,016, while Ovechkin is at 974.
The 39-year-old finished this season with 44 goals and 73 points. His production led the way for Washington, clinching the Eastern Conference during the regular season for the third time in the past decade.
In the playoffs, the Capitals lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
Although the Capitals confirmed there has been no decision on Ovechkin’s future, whenever he does decide to retire from the NHL, it’s possible he could play elsewhere.
There have been rumors of the left winger playing in Russia, specifically for the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow.
Ovechkin has been a senior advisor for Dynamo since 2019-20. He also played four seasons with Dynamo before making his NHL debut in 2005-06. He played an additional season in Moscow during the 2012-13 half-season NHL lockout.
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