Alex Ovechkin signed a one-year contract extension with the Capitals on July 2 to return for his 22nd NHL season. Ovechkin, who turns 41 in September, captained the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2018 and is the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer. Ovechkin has recorded 1,687 points (929g, 758a) in 1,573 career games with Washington. In NHL history, Ovechkin ranks first in goals (929), power-play goals (331), game-winning goals (141), overtime goals (27), road goals (476), game-opening goals (154), game-tying goals (155), go-ahead goals (297), 40-goal seasons (14), 30-goal seasons (20) and tied for first in 50-goal seasons (9).

This upcoming season, Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby will join Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Stan Mikita and Steve Yzerman as the only players in NHL history to play 22 seasons with one franchise. Ovechkin will also surpass Walter Johnson (21 seasons with the Washington Senators: 1907-1927) as the longest-tenured athlete in the history of Washington, D.C. professional sports. The 2026-27 campaign will mark Ovechkin’s 18th season as captain, making him the third-longest tenured captain in NHL history (Crosby: 20 seasons; Yzerman: 19 seasons).

Last season, Ovechkin led the Capitals in goals (32) and points (64). It marked the 21st time in 21 seasons that Ovechkin led or co-led the team in goals. Ovechkin’s 32 goals were the third most by a player age 40 or older in NHL history (Gordie Howe: 44g in 1968-69; Johnny Bucyk: 36g in 1975-76) and he became just the third player to record two hat tricks in the same season at age 40-plus. Over the course of the 2025-26 season, in which he played all 82 games, Ovechkin became the first player in NHL history to score 900 regular-season goals, scored his 1,000th total goal (regular season and playoffs combined), passed Joe Sakic for the 10th-most points in NHL history and recorded his NHL-record 20th 30-goal season and his 21st 20-goal season. The Capitals were 18-4-2 (.792 point percentage) when Ovechkin scored and 32-10-3 (.744 point percentage) when he recorded a point last season.