Capitals Say Email Announcing Alex Ovechkin's Final NHL Season Is Inaccurate

The Washington Capitals said an email sent out Thursday announcing that the 2025-26 campaign will be legendary forward Alex Ovechkin's final NHL season is not accurate.

In a post on X, the Caps noted that "no decision" has been made on Ovechkin's future beyond next season, and that the email sent by a member of the corporate sales department "mistakenly" referred to next season as Ovechkin's final year:

Jacob Billington of The Hockey Writers reported that the Capitals sent an email to season ticket holders that included the line, "OCTOBER – the start of Capitals hockey and Alex Ovechkin's FINAL NHL SEASON."

Ovechkin, who will turn 40 in September, broke the NHL's career goal-scoring record this season, as his 897 goals put him ahead of the legendary Wayne Gretzky, who retired in 1999 with a then-record 894 career goals.

Originally selected No. 1 overall by the Caps in the 2004 NHL draft, Ovechkin made an instant impact and blossomed into one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

The Russian superstar is the Capitals' career leader in goals (897), games played (1,491), points (1,623), shots on goal (6,864) and power-play goals (326), and he is second in assists with 726.

Along with being the NHL goal-scoring king, Ovechkin is first in league history in power-play goals and 11th in points.

Having spent his entire 20-year career in Washington, Ovechkin is the all-time face of the franchise for the Capitals, and he has plenty of accolades to show for it as well.

In addition to being a 13-time NHL All-Star, The Great 8 is a nine-time Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner as the league's leading goal scorer, a one-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the league's leading point scorer, a three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner as NHL MVP, and he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 2006.

Perhaps most importantly, Ovechkin led the Capitals to the only Stanley Cup win in franchise history in 2018, and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP that season by virtue of his 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points in 24 games.

Aside from the Cup run, the Caps have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs during Ovechkin's career, but he has been a great postseason performer nonetheless with 77 goals and 70 assists for 147 points in 161 games.

Over the course of his iconic career, Ovechkin has reached the 40-goal mark in a season 14 times and the 50-goal mark nine times, plus he scored a career-high 65 goals in 2007-08.

In 2023-24, Ovechkin finished with 31 goals in 79 games, which were his fewest ever in a season aside from 2020-21 when he played in only 45 games.

As a result, there was some thought that Ovechkin was nearing the end of the road, but he silenced his doubters this season, scoring 44 goals despite missing 17 games.

Ovechkin also had 29 assists to give him 73 points in 65 games, and he was a plus-15, which was his best plus/minus rating since the 2015-16 season.

With Ovechkin leading the way, the Caps were the best team in the Eastern Conference this season with 111 points, which was their best performance as a team since 2016-17.

Although the Capitals fell 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs, their showing created hope for Stanley Cup contention next season and beyond.

Next season marks the final year of Ovechkin's contract, so while it is possible he plays it out and then retires, his performance this season suggests he has plenty left in the tank, which could mean he sticks around for multiple seasons.