- Alex Ovechkin has not decided whether he will accept postgame handshake lines from opponents in 2026-27
- The Capitals captain signed a one-year deal in July and says he will sort out his plans with his family in Washington
- Read below for Ovechkin’s full comments and the two April dates that could close out his NHL career
Alex Ovechkin has not decided how he wants to say goodbye, or whether he wants a goodbye at all.
The Capitals captain met with reporters in Moscow on Saturday and got asked directly whether he would accept postgame handshake lines from opponents if the 2026-27 season turns out to be his last.
“Anything is possible. We’ll see. It’s hard to say right now. Only God knows how the season will go,” Ovechkin said, per RIA Novosti’s Andrey Senchenko, as translated from Russian. “Will I agree to a handshake ceremony if the opponents offer it after the games? I can’t say anything right now, I don’t even know myself. We’ll discuss it when I get to Washington with my family.”
Ovechkin signed a one-year contract with Washington in July after months of retirement talk. His 22nd NHL season opens October 2 in Carolina, and he has already said he does not know if it will be the last one.
The handshake question is not hypothetical. Pittsburgh lined up at center ice for him in April in what could have been his final home game, and Ovechkin waved the whole thing off and headed for the tunnel.
He has never had a problem handing out the honor. Ovechkin called his teammates back onto the ice to salute Marc-Andre Fleury at the end of the 2024-25 season, then did it again for Anze Kopitar last season.
The Kopitar tribute was Ovechkin’s idea from the start, right down to asking the Kings captain to stay out on the ice after the final horn:
If this really is the end, the calendar is already set. Ovechkin’s final home game would come April 4 against the Penguins at Capital One Arena, and his last regular-season game would be April 10 in Philadelphia. The contract runs through July 1, 2027.
He turns 41 next month with 929 regular-season goals in 1,573 games. The handshake lines can wait until Ovechkin figures out whether he wants them.
