One of the biggest questions on the minds of Washington Capitals fans everywhere will be whether or not captain Alex Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer in the history of the National Hockey League, will return for one more season.
Ovechkin is officially an unrestricted free agent, and said that he was going to need time with his family to decide on whether or not to play another year with the franchise that selected him with the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft and whom he led to the 2018 Stanley Cup win.
However, based on the latest report from a key NHL Insider, Ovechkin may have made his decision – and it won’t be easy for Capitals fans to hear.
Top NHL Insider Believes Washington Capitals Captain Alex Ovechkin Has Played His Last NHL Game
According to NHL Insider Darren Dreger on TSN’s OverDrive, “all indications” point toward Ovechkin hanging up the skates rather than coming back for one more year in 2026-27.
“Just how active Chris Patrick and the Capitals have been, all indications are he’s not [coming back], but we don’t know that officially yet,” Dreger said.
This past season, Ovechkin appeared in all 82 games, scoring 32 goals and increasing his career total to 929, the most in NHL history. He broke the record set by Wayne Gretzky in April of 2025, scoring the historic 895th goal of his career against the New York Islanders.
But he made it clear that he wants to take time to discuss his future with his family before officially coming forward with his intentions for next season.
“Obviously, if I want to come back, it has to be a decision. First of all, we’re going to make playoffs, and we have to fight for a Cup,” he said of his future. “That’s probably the biggest thing. Otherwise, if you take different scenario, like family-wise, health-wise, but in team-wise, I think this is the most important thing for me.”
Are The Capitals Preparing For Life Without Alex Ovechkin?
In the meantime, the Capitals appear to have been preparing for a potential retirement of Ovechkin considering their acquisitions of right-handed forwards Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch.
According to head coach Spencer Carbery, who recently spoke to Ovechkin, the future Hall of Fame forward approved of the moves.
“I spoke to him this morning,” Carbery said on Thursday. “He’s on vacation with his family and doing some working out there. But at this point, no. There’s been no decision. He’s just spending time with his family and trying to make the best decision. And when he tells us he’s ready to decide, we’ll be right there for him. So there’s no timeline… He did mention and say today that he’s following and seeing the moves and was really happy for the organization about acquiring Jordan and Alex.”
“In my mind, I do (have a timeline). I’m not going to say it because then everyone would have a deadline,” Patrick continued. “I think we’ll have a conversation in the near future and get a good sense of where he’s at.”
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