Alex Ovechkin said on Monday that his 22nd season in the NHL will be his last, beginning the farewell tour for the longtime Washington Capitals captain who holds the league’s career goalscoring record.

Ovechkin told his teammates of his decision before the Capitals posted a message from the Russian star on social media.

“It’s sad, but it is what it is,” Ovechkin said in his locker room address. “It’s hard, but let’s enjoy it and let’s do some special things this year.”

Ovechkin signed a one-year contract this past summer and turned 41 in September. All signs pointed to this being the end of his career, and he said he and his family decided as much in recent months.

“I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it’s the right decision,” he said in Monday’s statement. The Capitals’ home opener is on Wednesday night.

Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s goals record in April 2025 and entered this season at 929. The front office acquired Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch in trades and signed fellow forward Boone Jenner and defenseman Vincent Desharnais in free agency to add around a young core in the hopes of making another long playoff run and contending for the Stanley Cup.

“We have an unbelievable team this year,” Ovechkin said. “Let’s make the playoffs, let’s have fun and enjoy the moment because times fly.”

Ovechkin has spent his entire career with Washington, winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2005-06, the Hart Trophy as MVP three times and leading the NHL in scoring nine times. He was playoff MVP in 2018 when he led the Caps to the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

There’s been speculation Ovechkin could receive an unfriendly reception on the road after he appeared in an ad for a party aligned with Vladimir Putin during the offseason. But there wasn’t much sign of that during the first two games of the season – at Carolina and at Tampa Bay.

When he addressed the fallout from that the Putin advert, Ovechkin confirmed he’d be going back to live in Russia when he retired from the NHL.

In Washington’s season-opening win over the Hurricanes, Ovechkin had just under 13 minutes of ice time, the lowest of his career in a game when he wasn’t injured or ejected.

The Capitals missed the playoffs in 2025-26, but Ovechkin played all 82 games and scored 32 goals. He’s reached 30 in every season of his career except 2020-21, when he played only 45 games.

Long before he broke through during the Capitals’ Stanley Cup run, Ovechkin had rejuvenated hockey in Washington, and he’ll retire as one of the city’s most accomplished athletes in any sport. The Capitals drafted him No 1 overall in 2004, and he and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby became stars almost immediately in 2005 when the league emerged from missing a season because of a lockout.

Ovechkin’s combination of goalscoring skill, physicality and boundless energy made him an instant hit, and he scored a career-high 65 goals in his third season, which earned him the first of his Hart Trophies.

Washington’s penchant for postseason heartache, which existed long before Ovechkin showed up, followed him for a while as well. The Capitals won the Presidents’ Trophy three times with the league’s best regular-season record, falling short in the playoffs each time before a Washington team that merely won its division finally went all the way in the playoffs.

In four postseason meetings between Crosby and Ovechkin – in 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018 – the winner won the Stanley Cup each time.