'Alex Ovechkin’s last season': Capitals announce captain’s upcoming retirement

It’s not necessarily a huge surprise, of course, but it’s still rather peculiar that such an announcement should have been made in this way. The Russian undoubtedly deserved to be able to announce it himself… but obviously, the information leaked out.

I wonder how he’s taking it.

There’s a possibility, however, that the person who drafted the e-mail was too quick on the uptake… but we’ve long suspected that he’ll be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 season. After all, his contract will expire after the 2025-26 season… and we don’t know if he’ll really want to come back for another season at 41.

Especially as the quality of his game is really on the decline, unfortunately. He’s still scoring goals by the ton… but there’s a reason why his playing time was in freefall at the end of the season.

We can therefore expect Ovechkin to be showered with praise over the coming season if this information is confirmed. It’s safe to assume that he’ll be honored by many teams… especially the Capitals.

And it makes you wonder how long it will be before Sidney Crosby gets the same treatment…

Extension

Note that the e-mail specifies that this will be Ovechkin’s last season “in the NHL”.

Could we see him in the KHL in 2026-27? We’ve long been talking about a world in which he’ll end his career with Moscow Dynamo, his hometown club…