Capitals' Alex Ovechkin Makes Big Career Decision

After breaking the legendary Wayne Gretzky’s longstanding record for most career goals, few would blame Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin if he decided to call it a career.

There has been plenty of speculation about what the future holds for the 39-year-old Russian, and Capitals fans got a little scare last week when an email sent out referring to the 2025-26 season as Ovechkin’s last — a decision the team quickly addressed as inaccurate.

“No decision has been made on Alex Ovechkin’s future following the 2025-26 NHL season. 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 team wrote on X.

Though Ovechkin has yet to make an official decision about how many more years—if any—he plans to play in the NHL, the three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner (NHL MVP award) has reportedly decided when his next hockey game will be, and it’s sooner than some fans might think.

In a recent interview with Russian news outlet Match TV, Utah Mammoth defenseman and fellow countryman Mikhail Sergachev disclosed that Ovechkin will play in the second annual “Match of the Year” between all-stars from the NHL and the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on July 13.

Ovechkin's reported decision is a big one given it could be the final time he plays in international competition given the Russian national team has been banned from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, due to the country's ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

The first iteration of the NHL-KHL exhibition happened last year at CSKA Arena in Moscow and ended in an 8-8 tie, but Ovechkin made quite an impact, scoring the game’s first goal and winning MVP. 

Ovechkin, who scored 44 goals and 73 points in 65 games this season, is back in Russia for the offseason having flown back at the end of May after the Capitals were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Next year is the last on Ovechkin’s contract with the Capitals. Barring a contract extension being signed between now and next offseason, Ovechkin will hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026.

Ovechkin has expressed a desire to finish his professional hockey career with Dynamo Moscow, the KHL team he began his career with and played for back in the 2012-13 season during the NHL lockout.