HIGHLIGHTS
- Alex Ovechkin said Wednesday he will make a decision on his NHL future in the summer after conversations with his family and the Capitals organization
- The 40-year-old has four games left in his current deal and leads Washington with 31 goals and 61 points this season
- See the full video and read below for what Ovi said and what a retirement decision would mean
Alex Ovechkin is not giving anything away.
The Capitals posted a clip Wednesday of Ovechkin speaking with play-by-play voice John Walton, and he was characteristically measured about his retirement. He loves playing. He’s not ready to make a call. And he’ll wait until the offseason to sort it out.
“When you love something, you do it with heart,” he said. “Obviously, I love playing hockey, I love scoring goals. We’re going to make a decision in the summer. I have to talk to my family, with Ted, with Chris, with Brian. I have to make a decision in the summer.”
He didn’t close the door on retirement. He didn’t open it either. He also acknowledged the birthday on the horizon. “Health-wise, I’m going to be 41 in September, so you just have to be smart about it.”
This is not the first time Ovi’s future has come up. The conversation has followed him for a couple of seasons now, tied to his contract winding down. That five-year, $47.5 million deal expires after this season, leaving him an unrestricted free agent.
He has 31 goals and 61 points this season, leading the Capitals in goals at 40 years old. The 1,000-goal chase remains alive with 919 on his career ledger.
What happens next is genuinely unclear. The KHL has been vocal about wanting him back in Russia if he decides to keep playing. He came up through Dynamo Moscow and spent four seasons there before Washington selected him first overall in 2004. He’s said before he’d like to finish his career where it started.
He’s one of the oldest active NHL players in the league, but nobody watching this season would say he looks done. He’s earned the right to take his time with this decision.
Summer will tell us a lot.
