Alex Ovechkin is returning for a 22nd season with the Washington Capitals. The NHL’s career leader in goals didn’t formally commit to returning in 2026-27 until last week. Ovechkin said his wife suggested he play “one more year, or maybe two years, I don’t know”.
Ovechkin’s Focus
Ovechkin is focused on showing he can still be effective and help the team win. The organization he’s returning to has been one of the most active in the league this offseason, adding Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch, and Boone Jenner via the trade and free agent markets.
The Capitals missed the playoffs, but they had the same number of points (95) as Vegas did before the Golden Knights made a run to the Stanley Cup Final. Washington also finished tied for third in the NHL in even-strength goal differential.
“When you look at our roster, it’s a Stanley Cup contender,” Ovechkin said. “I know I still can play, and bring energy to the locker room, energy on the ice.”
Team Changes
The Capitals have mostly remained competitive even though almost everyone from their 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team is gone. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson are still around, but Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Braden Holtby, and Evgeny Kuznetsov exited at various points since then.
Now it’s a team led by Ovechkin, Wilson, Dylan Strome, Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and goalie Logan Thompson — plus new additions.
“We came in looking to add skill to our top six,” president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan said. “We wanted to get a physical, long defenseman that had a net-front presence. We were looking at veteran leadership.”
Ovechkin will make a $1 million salary with bonuses worth an additional $8 million — including $4.75 million if he plays 10 games. The contract counts just $4.25 million against the cap after Washington made plenty of use of its substantial salary cap space.
Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.
