NHL legend Alex Ovechkin will retire at the end of the 2026-27 season, the Washington Capitals legend announced on Monday, October 5.
“My family and I decided this summer that this will be my final year in the NHL,” Ovechkin, 41, said in a release. “I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it’s the right decision. It was important for me to make this announcement before our first home game, so I have the chance to thank all the people around the game, everyone who has been so important to me and my family and helped me through good times and tough losses.”
The Capitals have opened their season with one win and one loss on the road. Their home opener is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin continued, “I wouldn’t have been able to achieve everything I have in my life without them. I am excited about this season with my teammates, and we will do everything we can to make this year special. I am going to enjoy every moment with my family, my boys, our fans and everyone who has been part of my hockey career. See you Wednesday, babes!”
The Capitals drafted Ovechkin No. 1 overall in the 2004 NHL Draft and he has spent his entire career in Washington, winning the Stanley Cup with the team in 2018. He will retire holding a slew of NHL records, including most regular season career goals, most goals scored by his position, most shots on goal and most goaltenders scored on.
Ovechkin’s announcement also comes while he is embroiled in controversy surrounding his support for Russian president Vladimir Putin. The hockey star was born and raised in Russia, and maintains a home in Moscow, where he plans to move permanently after his retirement.
Ovechkin has long supported the Russian leader, who has been in power since 1999, with the exception of a four-year stretch from 2008 to 2012. He appeared in an ad for Putin’s United Russia party in September, just before the country’s elections.
“I’m Russian and I support my country,” Ovechkin said in a news conference when asked about the ad. “I’m gonna live there, my kids are gonna live there. I’m for peace and love and I hope everything’s going to be okay.”
His public support for Putin, coming at a time in which Russia is in the midst of a war with Ukraine, has resulted in plenty of blowback in the United States. South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson wrote in a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, saying that it was “incredibly alarming” to see Ovechkin supporting “the party of war criminal Putin.”
NHL Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek wrote via X that Ovechkin, “bears a significant share of responsibility through his public stance… for the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Ukrainians and Russians killed or maimed.”
