The Capitals had their locker cleanout day today, and naturally, Alex Ovechkin continues to be prodded with questions about whether he’s returning for a 22nd NHL season in the fall. He maintains that he needs a little bit of time over the summer to decide with his family, but made things clear today that retirement is far from a sure thing in his mind. “I’m pretty sure it’s not my last game,” he said regarding Tuesday night’s win over the Blue Jackets, via Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.
In an interview earlier this month, Ovechkin said his family’s input, plus how he feels health-wise after a few weeks off, will be the most important factors in his decision. He’ll be 41 in September, but skated in all 82 games this year. It’s the first time he’s done that since 2017-18, although he rarely misses any stretches of significance. The league’s all-time leading goal-scorer still managed a 32-goal, 64-point year to lead the Caps in both categories. His 2.98 shots per game were a career low by a significant margin, though, so there’s definitely some cracks starting to show in his production.
More from the Caps today:
- Right-winger Ryan Leonard is heading to the World Championship to represent the United States on the heels of his rookie season, he told Silber. This year’s event kicks off on May 15 and will be hosted by Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. The 2023 eighth overall pick made a smooth transition to full-time duties after being limited to one goal in nine games at the tail end of last year, coming out of Boston College. The 21-year-old finished fifth on the Caps in goals (20), eighth in assists (25), and eighth in points (45) while averaging 14:25 of ice time per game with 124 hits. The 6’1″ bang-and-crash sniper previously had an assist in six games for the U.S. national team at the 2024 Worlds and captained them to gold at the 2025 World Juniors.
- Center Pierre-Luc Dubois broke his hand in Game 80 of the season against the Penguins last Saturday, he confirmed to Silber. He gutted it out and played the next day, but ended up sitting out for the season finale against Columbus after the Caps were eliminated from the playoff picture. That, plus an abdominal surgery in November, limited the top-six middleman to just 29 appearances on the year. Missing so much of Dubois, who was an excellent second-line pivot for them last season, had a considerable impact on the team’s overall regression. When healthy, he managed a 5-14–19 scoring line with a -4 rating while averaging 16:49 per game.
- Joining him on the offseason injury rehab list this summer is defenseman Rasmus Sandin. He also got hurt in that Saturday game against the Penguins and was still in a knee brace today. It doesn’t appear he’ll need surgery and can walk under his own power, but will need “quite a bit of rehab” this offseason, he told Silber, so it won’t be an ideal rest period for him. Sandin averaged 19:12 of ice time per game this season, sliding up and down the depth chart, while posting five goals and 29 points in 73 games with a +4 rating. Fresh off his 26th birthday last month, he just wrapped up year two of the five-year, $23MM extension he signed with the Caps in 2024.
- Tom Wilson also played through the back half of the season and the Olympics with a high ankle sprain, Silber relays. He only missed about two weeks in January with it and while he said it was certainly playable, he was never at 100%. That was evident as he only managed eight goals and 20 points in 31 games after returning after starting the year with a 22-20–42 line in 41 games.
Ovechkin loves attention.