WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin said Monday that his 22nd season in the NHL will be his last, beginning the farewell tour for the longtime Washington Capitals captain who holds the league’s career goal-scoring record. Ovechkin addressed teammates to deliver the news before the team posted a message from him on social media. “It’s sad, but it is what it is,” Ovechkin said in his locker room address. “It’s hard, but let’s enjoy it and let’s do some special things this year.” Ovechkin signed a one-year contract this past summer and turned 41 on Sept. 17. All signs pointed to this being the end, and he said he and his family decided as much in recent months. “I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it’s the right decision,” the Russian star said in a statement released before the Capitals’ home opener Wednesday night. Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s goals record in April 2025 and entered this season at 929. The front office acquired Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch in trades and signed fellow forward Boone Jenner and defenseman Vincent Desharnais in free agency to add around a young core in the hopes of making another long playoff run and contending for the Stanley Cup. “Let’s make the playoffs, let’s have fun and enjoy the moment because times fly,” Ovechkin told the team. “For young guys who are first year or experienced guys, I remember that moment, and enjoy the time. Because times fly. It seems like yesterday I was here my first year.” Speaking to reporters later Monday, Ovechkin said this was the right time to announce his decision, two days before the home opener. “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.” Ovechkin has spent his entire career with Washington, winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2005-06, the Hart Trophy as MVP three times and leading the NHL in scoring nine times. He was playoff MVP in 2018 when he led the Caps to the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. There’s been speculation Ovechkin could receive an unfriendly reception on the road after he appeared in an ad for a party aligned with Vladimir Putin during the offseason. But there wasn’t much sign of that during the first two games of the season — at Carolina and at Tampa Bay. When addressing the fallout from that last month, Ovechkin confirmed he’d be going back to live in Russia when he retired from the NHL. In Washington’s season-opening win over the Hurricanes, Ovechkin had 12 minutes, 46 seconds of ice time, the lowest of his career in a game when he wasn’t injured or ejected. Monday was 21 years to the day after Ovechkin made his debut with the Capitals. “It’s been pretty good career, pretty good 22 seasons,” he said. “Obviously the goal that we have, to bring a Stanley Cup to D.C., we did it.” Although the Capitals have designs on making the playoffs this season, within a couple hours of Ovechkin’s announcement, tickets for Washington’s regular-season home finale against Pittsburgh on April 4 were going for a minimum of $825 on StubHub. With D.C. hosting college hockey’s Frozen Four next year, the Capitals finish the regular season with three straight road games, wrapping up April 10 at Philadelphia. The Capitals missed the playoffs in 2025-26, but Ovechkin played all 82 games and scored 32 goals. He’s reached 30 in every season of his career except 2020-21, when he played only 45 games. Long before he broke through during the Capitals’ Stanley Cup run, Ovechkin had rejuvenated hockey in Washington, and he’ll retire as one of the city’s most accomplished athletes in any sport. The Capitals drafted him No. 1 overall in 2004, and he and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby became stars almost immediately in 2005 when the league emerged from missing a season because of a lockout. “Before we even met, we were kind of built up against each other: It’s kind of a natural thing to happen,” Crosby said. “Over the years developed a friendship with him. Have a ton of respect for him, and you play against someone that long, you’re compared and see each other enough I think that’s something that builds over time.” Ovechkin’s combination of goal-scoring skill, physicality and boundless energy made him an instant hit, and he scored a career-high 65 goals in his third season, which earned him the first of his MVP honors. “He’s done everything,” said Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, a fellow countryman who was picked second after Ovechkin in the 2004 draft. ”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.” Washington’s penchant for postseason heartache, which existed long before Ovechkin showed up, followed him for a while as well. The Capitals won the Presidents’ Trophy three times with the league’s best regular-season record, falling short in the playoffs each time before a Washington team that merely won its division finally went all the way in the playoffs. In four postseason meetings between Crosby and Ovechkin — in 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018 — the winner won the Stanley Cup each time. Washington’s home opener Wednesday is against Pittsburgh. “Definitely have had some great battles over the years,” Crosby said. “Obviously when you get to our age, that’s something that you have to make decisions on and for him, as long as he’s happy and enjoying it, that’s the biggest thing.”
