The Washington Capitals sent an email to their season ticket holders on May 29 and revealed that the 2025-26 season will be Alexander Ovechkin’s final season in the NHL.
With Ovechkin turning 40 years old before the start of next season, and it being his final year under contract, many speculated that it would be the end of his extremely impressive career, but now, it seems as if the Capitals have confirmed the speculation.
The email to season ticket holders reads: “OCTOBER – the start of Capitals hockey and Alex Ovechkin’s FINAL NHL SEASON”
Ovechkin accomplished one of the greatest feats anybody can do by breaking one of Wayne Gretzky’s unbreakable records. On April 6, 2025, Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal, surpassing Gretzky for the most in NHL history. With 895 goals (1st all-time), 1623 points (11th), 6864 shots (1st), 3744 hits (3rd), one Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe Trophy, three Hart Trophies and Ted Lindsay Awards, and nine Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies, Ovechkin has pretty well done it all. He is without a doubt the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history.
Ovechkin was selected first overall in 2004, and made his debut in the fall of 2005 after a league-wide lockout. He took the league by storm right away, scoring 52 goals and 106 points as a rookie, and took home the Calder Trophy, beating out Sidney Crosby, Dion Phaneuf, and Henrik Lundqvist.
Ovechkin is well in the conversation as one of the greatest players in NHL history, and with one season left to go, a legendary era of hockey is coming to an end.
Alex Ovechkin brings ‘precious’ 895th career goal puck and hockey stick back home to Russia
Alex Ovechkin flew home to Russia with a lot of bags, and now we know two of the items that traveled with him.
Ovechkin brought home the hockey stick with which he scored his 895th career goal and the milestone goal puck — both of which were meticulously authenticated by the Washington Capitals and MeiGray.
Ovechkin’s close friend Gus posed with the famous twig over the weekend. The stick features a special sticker on its blade, which appears to be signed by Capitals equipment manager Brock Myles, that reads “Ovie Goal 895 Game Equipment” along with a small hologram sticker from MeiGray. There’s also a piece of tape on the shaft that reads in black Sharpie: “895th Record Setting Goal 4-6-25 vs NYI.”
A video of Ovechkin holding the milestone goal puck was later posted to the “Official channel of Alexander Ovechkin’s Media Team” on Telegram.
Ovechkin says in the video, per a Sports.ru transcription and a Google translation, “Hello everyone! Here it is, precious.”
It’s unclear if Ovechkin brought home the record-breaking memorabilia just for the summer or for good. Ovechkin plans to eventually open a museum in his native Moscow featuring his own game-used memorabilia from his career and the extensive stick collection he has put together over the years.
Two new sticks Ovechkin added this season were from goaltenders. New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin gave Ovechkin the twig he was holding when the record-breaking goal was scored on him during the April 6 game. Ovechkin also asked for the goalie stick Charlie Lindgren used to score an own goal on himself.
Other hockey sticks Ovechkin has received throughout his career have come from Mario Lemieux, Connor McDavid, and Wayne Gretzky.
