- Alex Ovechkin skated with the Capitals on Monday for the first time this season
- He debuted a new stick stamped “MVO,” the initials of his late father Mikhail
- Read below for the story behind the tribute and where Ovechkin stands entering year 22
Alex Ovechkin is back on Capitals ice, and he brought a new stick with him.
The NHL’s all-time goals leader joined Washington’s informal skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Monday, his first time on the ice with teammates this month. Along with his familiar green Pro Reserve twig, he carried a newly designed stick in red and white stripes stamped with three letters: MVO. Those are his late father’s initials.
Mikhail Viktorovich Ovechkin died in February 2023 at the age of 71, per RMNB. Ovechkin has not spoken publicly about the design, so the meaning is his to confirm.
Take a look at the big man back at work:
Mikhail was an athlete himself. He played defender in Dynamo Moscow’s soccer system and suited up for the club’s reserve team before a thigh injury ended his career.
He later drove his son to hockey practices in Moscow and followed that career all the way to Washington. Health problems kept him from traveling to Las Vegas for the 2018 Stanley Cup win, so Ovechkin called him the moment it was over.
Father and son lifted the Cup together that summer at Dynamo’s training facility in Novogorsk. Years later, Ovechkin played a friendly for Dynamo’s soccer team wearing his dad’s old No. 3 and scored with Mikhail watching.
Shortly after his father’s death, Ovechkin called it the toughest thing he had been through in his NHL career.
“He give me everything. All his health, all his time. He travel with me all over the world and been at every practice when he have a chance.”
Watch him get back to it Monday morning:
Monday put the last piece of Washington’s roster on the ice. Ovechkin flew back from Russia late last week and greeted teammates at the facility Friday without skating, leaving him as the final NHL roster player to join the informal sessions.
Training camp opens Thursday, which is also his 41st birthday.
Team White got a serious upgrade on the wing for the scrimmage:
Washington signed him to a one-year deal on July 2 after a season of retirement chatter. He put up 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 2025-26 and sits at 929 career goals, 71 away from 1,000.
