Alexander Ovechkin said that spends the last season in the NHL

Russian forward “Washington Capitals” Alexander Ovechkin will retire in the National hockey League at the end of the current season. He told the team before training.

“It was important to me that you should be the first to know this. It's sad, but it's what it is. We have an incredible team this season with 82 more games to go. Let’s go to the play-off, let’s have fun and enjoy the moment, because time will fly by unnoticed, the striker said in a video released by the club’s press service.

Washington also posted the text of Ovechkin's letter, in which he said he made the decision in the summer. “It was important for me to announce this before our first home match, so that I had the opportunity to thank all the people involved in hockey, everyone who means so much to me and my family and who were there both in good times and after heavy defeats,” he said.

Alexander Ovechkin, 41, has been playing for Washington since 2005. In July, he signed a one-year contract with the team. As part of Capitals, the Russian won the Stanley Cup in 2018. The Russian owns the NHL record for the number of goals in the regular championships - 929. On April 6, 2025, he surpassed Canadian striker Wayne Gretzky, who scored 894 goals.

In 2017, Alexander Ovechkin was included in the list of the 100 greatest players of the NHL. Together with the Russian national team, the striker became world champion three times (2008, 2012, 2014). In addition, the forward won many individual awards. He was recognized as the best newcomer to the NHL (2006), the best player of the regular season (2008, 2009, 2013) and the most valuable hockey player play-off (2018).

Arnold Kabanov