Alex Ovechkin still has plenty of unfinished business in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, but only one more year left on the five-year extension he signed with the club in 2021.
Ovechkin has waffled back and forth on how he wants to end his professional hockey career in recent years, but has suggested in the past he’d like to finish with his hometown team, Dynamo Moscow of the KHL.
Ovechkin plied his trade as a teenager in Dynamo’s hockey academy and played the first four years of his professional career with the club in what was then called the Russian Super League. Dynamo’s President, Viktor Voronin, recently shared in an interview with TASS’ Rustam Sharafutdinov that the team is ready to negotiate with Ovechkin once his NHL deal expires after the 2025-26 campaign.
“Of course, we are ready to accept him with pleasure,” Voronin said as translated by Google Translate. “Whether Washington will offer to extend his contract, whether he will want to continue playing himself – it all depends only on him. His arrival at the stadium (in the summer) had a positive effect on the fans, they were happy to go and get his autographs. Alexander enjoys authority among Dynamo fans.”
Ovechkin, who currently serves in an advisory role with the club, has remained active in an alumni setting with Dynamo since debuting with the Capitals in 2005 and even returned to play for the team during the 2012-13 NHL lockout. He often visits his old stomping grounds during the offseason, most recently participating in a jersey presentation ceremony for the club’s junior team last August.
“We really do have very close, kind, friendly, sporting relations with Ovechkin,” Voronin said. “When Alexander comes to Moscow for a long period, he always visits the club, the team, and periodically trains with us on the ice to stay in shape. Last year, we even tried to launch commercial projects with him. The coaching staff also maintains relations with him, he has good human relations with our veterans, current players.”
Outside of winning a second Stanley Cup with the Capitals, the only NHL achievement Ovechkin has left to strive for is the league’s all-time goals record. With his 26 goals in 39 games this season, he is on pace to move past Wayne Gretzky for the top spot in April.
Ovechkin has not spoken about his future since the Capitals rebuilt on the fly over the summer under head coach Spencer Carbery. Washington has dominated through 55 games of the 2024-25 campaign, leading the Eastern Conference by nine points.
