BREAKING: Alexander Ovechkin confirms retirement date

Earlier today, massive news broke out of the Washington Capitals. In a Russian interview recently, a reporter bluntly asked Ovechkin if he plans on retiring at the end of his current contract. Ovechkin confirmed that he will in fact be retiring at that date at the latest, which will be at the end of the 2026 season.

The Capitals blog RMNB shared the excerpt from the interview.


In the interview, Ovechkin said for the first time that he isn't considering returning to the KHL for a few seasons once he's retired in the NHL. Prior to this, Ovechkin had always left the door open for a return - this is the first time he's confirmed that his hockey career will end at the end of 2026.


Through 1396 career NHL games, Ovechkin has 834 goals and is still on pace to barely pass Gretzky's goal record of 894 by the end of his career. If he can keep up the pace of scoring 25 a year for the next two seasons, the all-time scoring record will be his.