Alex Ovechkin’s ongoing ransacking of the NHL record book will continue for at least one more season, we learned last week when the Caps captain signed a one-year contract extension to play a 22nd season in the NHL in 2026-27.
The first record to fall to Ovechkin this fall will be a 99-year-old record established by a man from a different part of the world who played a different sport in a different time.
As Ovechkin mounted the charge to threaten and ultimately break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record over these last several seasons, it seemed as though each goal the Caps captain scored either pushed him past one of the NHL’s all-time greats as he zoomed his way up the ledger, or it broke some obscure NHL record. Records fans rarely discuss – along the lines of “most career home games with a goal,” – an actual NHL mark Ovechkin shattered midway through last season – seem to fall weekly, further enlightening us to the everlasting unicorn quality of the GR8 Eight.
Every goal Ovechkin scores quite literally breaks a record – his own. And in returning for an encore campaign this fall when a sizable faction of fans believed he’d played his final NHL game and season, Ovechkin is now poised to seize a local sporting record – one that has nothing to do with hockey, specifically – that has stood for nearly an entire century, 99 years.
When he steps on the ice for the first time in his 22nd season this fall, Ovechkin will claim sole possession of a record set by a Kansas farm boy born nearly a century and a half ago in 1887, a man who lived and died and set this and many other records in major league baseball, all before Ovechkin’s own parents – mother Tatiana and his late father Mikhail – were born in Moscow after World War II.
That man, of course, is legendary (original) Washington Nationals pitcher Walter “The Big Train” Johnson, who spent 21 seasons plying his trade as a pitcher here in the nation’s capital, from 1907-27. Ovechkin tied Johnson as the longest tenured pro athlete in Washington, DC pro sports history last season.
We will discuss Johnson a bit more later. Because until Ovechkin signed his contract extension – just the fourth contract he has signed across those 22 seasons – on Thursday, it seemed possible that Ovechkin and Johnson might share the mark for local sporting longevity for a long, long time.
Ovechkin’s return was not a slam dunk.
“After the season I was talking to [president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan and senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick], then I was talking to [coach Spencer Carbery],” Ovechkin said in a phone interview on Thursday, minutes after signing his contract. “And I told [Chris] that I need some time to talk about my future with my family. A chance to win is very important for me if I return. I want to compete for the Stanley Cup.”
“Alex was really good when we met at the end of the season, before he went back to Russia,” says Patrick. “He gave us an indication, like, ‘Do what you want to do this offseason, do what you need to do, and then we can talk about what my deal is going to look like.’ That allowed us to really go out and be aggressive in how and what we wanted to target, and to make some of the moves that we made.
“I wasn't overly concerned that all of a sudden he would come in and demand something that we couldn't do; I knew he was going to work with us. We just wanted to make sure that he felt good about it too, and I think he's really happy as well with where we ended up.”
He is.
“And I saw what the team did,” says Ovechkin. “Obviously, it's hard to see how we lost great players and great guys, but after that I saw we signed and we traded for Stanley Cup contenders, you know what I mean? And then I tell Chris, ‘Okay, let’s make a deal.’ And obviously then it was like 10 minutes talking to make a deal.”
Ovechkin chased Gretzky down in the waning days of what was a remarkable 2024-25 season for the Caps, who finished atop the Eastern Conference with 111 points, fueled by an infusion of key players in their primes in the summer of 2024, a group including Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Matt Roy and Logan Thompson.
But an early season injury to Dubois derailed Washington’s bid for a similar season in 2025-26; the Caps tumbled to 95 points and missed the playoffs, trading away longtime stalwarts such as John Carlson and Nic Dowd at the trade deadline in March, and recouping draft capital in return. Ovechkin was understandably devastated by the trades of two longtime teammates, and he wasn’t interested in being part of a rebuild in Washington, if management opted to go in that direction.
As the offseason began, the Caps captain’s status was up in the air. Would he retire, or would he return?
After trying and being unable to land a difference-making top six forward in free agency last offseason, Patrick landed two of them in as many days this summer, swinging a trade with St. Louis for Jordan Kyrou days before the 2026 NHL Draft, and engineering a sign-and-trade swap with Buffalo for Alex Tuch a day later.
Days later in free agency, Washington brought in veteran leader and all-purpose forward Boone Jenner and hulking right-handed blueliner Vincent Desharnais. That quartet of new band members helped convince Ovechkin to return to the stage for an encore, and he’s excited about that. He’s also both mournful and philosophical about the loss of a trio teammates – Hendrix Lapierre, Brandon Duhaime and Connor McMichael – for the last several years who have moved on via trade or free agency.
“Those guys have lots of experience,” he says of his new teammates. “They’re tough, they’re skilled. And you can see how the organization and how the team did this offseason, and I think the organization did a great job. It’s tough to lose Lappy, Doggie and Mikey. We have a great relationship and they’re great guys. But I think the direction is bringing the Stanley Cup back to DC.
“And first of all, it’s a business, right? So all the things [Chris] and the organization did is for winning, and that’s why I said, ‘Okay, let’s go for one more year.’”
As Ovechkin waited to see how the offseason played out, he also had some conversations with majority owner Ted Leonsis, whose stewardship of the franchise now covers more than half of the team’s 51-season existence.
Like most loyal fans who have been fortunate enough to witness and remember the two-plus decades of Ovechkin’s dominance in DC, Leonsis has marked the events of his own life with Ovechkin’s ongoing exploits.
“If you would have said it'd be 22 years later,” Leonsis begins, “and I look at everything that's happened in the country, in Washington, DC, in my personal life, my kids, my grandkids, it really is remarkable. I can mark a big chunk of my life along with Alex Ovechkin, and when [Monumental Sports Network] runs the 895 goals special, I can't take my eyes off of it, and it’s not for the goals. But it's like the different times of Alex, and, ‘Oh, I remember that game, I remember being there, I was on the road on that one.’”
As a lifelong sports fan and a man who also owns other pro sports teams, Leonsis is well aware of the shifting sands in the NHL. The rapid climb of the salary cap after years of a flat cap have altered the playing field for athletes, giving them more say and more ownership in where they play.
That keeps franchises on their toes, too. Good organizations know they can attract and retain good talent simply by treating people well, going the extra mile to make them comfortable and not being cheap. Rare players like Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and a few others who are able to stay with the same franchise throughout an entire multi-decade career have always been rare in pro sports, but they could be even rarer in the years ahead, given the way the current winds are blowing.
“I think that feeling of permanence and reliability and durability is so rare, and now we both truly understand that it's something really to cherish and protect,” says Leonsis. “And the only way you can do that is to be pretty real and honest with one another. Alex, when the season ended, he and I met with Zach [Leonsis], and it was, ‘Where do we go? What do you want to do?’”
Among Leonsis’ chief worries was if an Ovechkin comeback fizzled because of an injury, a tough pill to swallow after more than two decades of remarkable durability. Leonsis made sure the captain knew there would always be a place for him here with the organization, and he didn’t need to come back if his heart and head weren’t fully along for the ride.
“My discussions with him have been, ‘We want you to be a Capital for life, and so if you play, you play,” says Leonsis. “If you don't play, there's going to be something really significant to be involved with, Monumental and with the Capitals on the go forward. And I know you have to do some soul searching; we have to do soul searching too.’”
Ovechkin’s own soul-searching involved conversations with his family and whether he wanted to go through another grueling summer of training for another season, one that will start about two weeks after his 41st birthday on Sept. 17.
“Obviously my wife and kids want me to come back,” says Ovechkin. “I talk to Nastya, and she knows all the situations, and she knows all the details about what can happen. But with the kids, they always tell me, like, ‘Are you coming back? Are you coming back? Are you going to sign now? Are you not going to sign?’
“And then yesterday when I told them I'm signing a contract with Washington, they were way excited, and I saw their smiles on their faces. And yeah, this is the most important thing I think in my life, when you can see how they're smiling and how they're happy. And obviously my mom and everybody, all my friends, I told everybody I signed with Washington, and they are very excited to know. They're very happy for me and for my family.”
As Ovechkin returns for at least one more season, he returns to a team that’s better – on paper, anyway – than the one he last suited up for on April 14, in the season finale against the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Ovechkin finished last season with 32 goals and 32 assists for 64 points, marking the 21st time in as many NHL seasons he has owned or shared the team lead in goals.
For the last couple of decades, the Caps have looked for complementary players to play alongside and with Ovechkin. With the injection of Jenner, Kyrou and Tuch into the Washington forward group that already includes the likes of Dubois, Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif, the Caps shouldn’t need to rely on Ovechkin leading their team in scoring in 2026-27.
“I just think he is protected a little bit more,” says MacLellan of Ovechkin. “There is not pressure on him to score for us to win. I think everybody goes through parts of the year where they’re on fire, and then they go through a drought. And the more good guys you have, you’re going to protect the team from those periods where you’re having a hard time scoring. But we’re going to have four good lines here that all can score.
“I’m excited about it, and I think he will be, too, because it’s not pressure on him every night. And I think at his age and the stage of his career, it’s more about winning now. He has the total goals, and Gretzky’s record; I don’t think that’s the driving force – the motivational force – for him. I think it’s going to be about winning, and he will find a way to fit in and contribute, and maybe our offense is more equally distributed this year. I don’t expect him to lead the team next year.”
The thing is, he still ‘could.’ Five years ago this month, Ovechkin signed a five-year, $47.5 contract extension, one that kept his salary among the highest in the NHL on a deal that was inked in the midst of the “flat cap era.” Ovechkin scored a combined total of 199 goals during those five seasons; only seven players scored more. All seven had more ice time per game than Ovechkin over those five seasons, and all seven are essentially a full decade younger or more.
Those last five seasons came in Ovechkin’s age 36-40 seasons, and his 199 goals in those five seasons are the most in NHL history, well ahead of runners-up Johnny Bucyk (168), Gordie Howe (166), Teemu Selanne (145) and Brett Hull (131).
“I think the success that he has had in the last five years, I think the reasons for me are similar to why he has been successful his whole career,” says Patrick. “For whatever reason, physically, he has been able to withstand 21 seasons, not an easy thing on a body. Not an easy thing on a body as you hit your thirties and your mid-thirties. It defies science and logic, how he has held up. So, to be that healthy over the whole course of his career has really enabled him to do what he has done. You couple that with a skill level that hasn’t been seen as far as ability to put the puck in the net, and it’s made him a dangerous player or longer – I think – than probably anybody expected.
“As far as where he fits, the way our team is built, it’s a pretty balanced lineup. With the personnel we had in place coming off last season, it was a goal to not try to reinvent what we have here.
“But I think if we add the right pieces, we can have a really dangerous and deep lineup. We’ve got four centers that can all make plays and create offense. And really, they can all do well in their own end too, so they can be used in all situations. And Carbs can kind of mix around the wingers as he sees fit for what kind of look he wants to have, what kind of matchup he wants to have on a given night. I think with that balance in our lineup, Ovi could really slot anywhere with any guy, depending on what Carbs wants to have for a look that night.”
Before Ovechkin’s arrival on the scene two decades ago, DC was hardly a hot hockey destination. But in the 16-plus years of Ovechkin’s captaincy, he and his teammates have built a culture here that has proven to be appealing to players who arrive from other organizations. Many players fitting that description have thrived here and opted to re-sign to stay with the Capitals, and that culture may have indirectly helped to extend Ovechkin’s NHL career.
“It's exciting,” Carbery told media Friday, of his team’s offseason additions and moves. “I can feel the energy around our team. I know there's a lot of talk in the hockey world about our group, about the moves that Chris and his team have made. They've done a phenomenal job of not only the moves and signing Alex, but I think of [addressing] specific needs inside of our group, our forward group, our [defense] corps of what specific individual qualities do we need, and I think they did an amazing job of identifying those and going out and executing the moves to get it.
“And then the other thing that I think is a great part that I'm very proud of, and our fan base should be very proud of, our city should be very proud of, our players in our locker room should be very proud of, is there's multiple moves and signings in there where players want to come play in DC. And that's pretty cool when you’ve got 31 markets to choose from – and some tax free – and you go through it all and you have people that are identifying players that are really, really good in the League that want to come here and want to live in this community, want to play for this organization, because they've been a visitor and come into the building and seen and felt what that was like, and then heard about our locker room and heard about the leadership and heard about [Ovechkin], and heard about how close it is and our staff. And so all the things that go into it, for players to want to sign here, and specifically one of 32, [to say], ‘There's a spot I want to be,’ is something that we all should be real proud of.”
What becomes a legend most? For this particular local and global legend, it’s one more record-breaking season here in DC, one more run at Lord Stanley’s Cup, and one more season as the longest tenured captain in Washington Capitals franchise history.
Ovechkin has all the records that matter to him and he is not playing to enrich himself. He is playing this season because he loves the game, and he has the rest of his life to be retired. Last season, there was obviously some doubt as to whether there would be one more season. This time around, not so much. The only urgency is the urgency to win.
“Well, first of all, it’s the playoffs,” Ovechkin says when asked for his personal goals for the upcoming season. “And then win the Cup because this is probably going to be my last year. And if you look at the roster, the lineup and the depth that we have, obviously LT is a top goalie, we have a great defensive line and the additions that we had with the forwards, it’s bringing us back to Stanley Cup contenders. So I’m very excited and I’m very happy for the team and for the fans.”
Leonsis has dreams of a cinematic ending, and he challenged Ovechkin to have a higher calling for season 22.
“I said, ‘You have to be now remotivated around a higher calling,’ because last year felt a little empty, right?” says Leonsis. “We didn't make the playoffs. He had a really good year on paper, played every game, led the team in points and in goals, but none of us felt good about last year, and so it was, ‘If you can be healthy [come back]. And while you're working out, it's not drudgery. It's, ‘I love hockey, I love the game, I love the team, I love the city. I love the fans.’
“And why can't we now focus on winning another Cup? Wouldn't that be the greatest narrative? Wouldn't that be, isn’t that a motivator? If you scored 10 more goals, 20 more goals, 30, what difference does it make? And yes, you'll look back and you'll have more goals, but what's the higher calling for your coming back?”
The higher calling is winning, which brings us back to Walter Johnson.
Like Ovechkin, Johnson was a DC sports legend. He won 417 games, the most of any pitcher whose career began after 1900. When he retired in 1927, Johnson held the all-time career strikeouts record at 3,509. That record held up until 1983, nearly four decades after Johnson’s passing at the age of 59. He succumbed to a brain tumor at Georgetown Hospital on Dec. 10, 1946, seven years after he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its five charter members.
Also like Ovechkin, Johnson had to wait a long time to win a championship in Washington. Johnson broke in as a 19-year-old in 1907, and despite 10 straight seasons with 20 or more wins from 1910-19, Johnson’s team finished as high as second in the American League just twice in his first 14 seasons. The Nats finished last or next-to-last in half of Johnson’s first 14 seasons.
But in 1924, everything clicked. A 36-year-old Johnson had a turn-back-the-clock MVP season, leading the AL in wins, ERA, games started, shutouts and strikeouts, and helping his team to its only World Series title in its 60-year run as the Nationals/Senators before moving on to Minnesota to continue life as the Twins in 1961.
Johnson got the Nats back to the World Series again in 1925, putting together his final 20-win season at the age of 37. But despite Johnson spinning a shutout and winning two games over Pittsburgh in the 2025 World Series, the Nats fell in seven games.
Ovechkin won a championship earlier in his career than Johnson, but unlike The Big Train, the GR8 Eight hasn’t been able to claw his way back for a second chance at the coveted Cup. That’s the goal this time around, because it might be the last time around.
Johnson lost his strikeout record after more than half a century as the K king, and now The Big Train yields his 99-year reign as the longest-tenured DC pro athlete to Ovechkin.
But Johnson’s record of 110 career shutouts still stands, and it’s likely to last forever, given the usage patterns of modern starting pitchers in MLB.
Someday, some young phenom may come along and surpass Ovechkin as the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader. Perhaps that player is active in the NHL right now; perhaps he has yet to be born. Records are made to be broken, as the cliché goes, and the goal mark may fall, as it did for Gretzky, Howe, and Richard before Ovechkin came along.
If there is one Ovechkin record that looks – at this moment, anyway – unbreakable, maybe it’s the one he takes from Johnson this fall. It’s perhaps harder to fathom a player in any modern sport being good enough, useful enough, durable enough and willing enough to spend 22 or more seasons with the same DC pro sports franchise than it is to envision some kid rocketing his way to a thousand goals in the NHL someday.
And maybe, when it’s all said and done, it’s the 99-year-old Johnson record that carries the most luster locally. Ovechkin is a big bang, a force of nature. He was always bound for glory, and that glory unfolded here, over the last 21 seasons and at least one more to come.
“Like I’ve said before, he's one of one,” says Patrick of Ovechkin. “And the loyalty he's shown to this city in this organization is something special, and something that we shouldn't take for granted.
“I'm sure there's various points in his career where he could have looked to go a different direction or go move somewhere else, and the fact that he always wanted to do it here and win here, and I think his relationship with Ted is a really special relationship between an owner and a player.
“It's a really special thing that we've gotten to be part of, and we won't see another athlete like this in Washington, DC. I just don't see another person coming in, playing as long as Alex has played here, and having the kind of history-making success that he's had, coupled with bringing a championship to the city. It's just something that we should all enjoy while it's happening, because you never know when it's going to end.”
