Could an Alex Ovechkin retirement announcement come in the summer?
Alex Ovechkin is set to finish his five-year deal this summer – and as a 40-year-old, retirement is obviously a hot topic.
But with the Washington Capitals still seemingly in the playoff hunt, we haven’t heard whether or not this will be Ovi’s final NHL season. He has spent his entire career with the Capitals, registering an NHL record 922 goals and 1,675 points in 1,560 games.
No doubt, he’s one of the greatest to ever do it. But his best hockey is far beyond him. Still, he brings value on the scoresheet. A 30-goal season is definitely in the cards – the only time he didn’t reach it was when he had 24 during the COVID-impacted 2020-21 campaign. He’s the greatest goal-scorer ever, and if he feels he still has more to offer, he’ll likely find a way to stick around.
Until then, cue the speculation. During an interview on The Sheet with Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski, Capitals GM Chris Patrick discussed the idea of Ovechkin calling it a career during the summer instead of having a final farewell tour:
Greg Wyshynski: “I remember when I went to camp for the Caps much, much earlier in the season, there was the notion that this decision from Alex may not be – if he decides to do this, it may not be (like Wayne) Gretzky. It may not be like we find out with two weeks left in the regular season. It could be something that we find out in the offseason from Alex. What’s the percentage chance that the season ends, the fans react as they do, but we don’t hear anything official from Alex until the offseason?
Chris Patrick: “It’s hard to handicap a percentage chance, but I think that’s definitely a possibility. You know, he has a process that he wants to go through. There are conversations he wants to have, both with his family and with his advisors, with (team owner Ted Leonosis), with (Capitals president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan), and with me. He’s not going to rush to do it, he’s going to do it on his timeline, and if that ends up being as we get towards the end of the season or if it spills into the offseason, I think he’s going to do the process the way he wants to do it and we certainly are going to respect that.”
You can listen to the full episode below: