- Alex Ovechkin walked back into the Capitals practice facility Friday after a summer in Russia
- Washington filmed his lap through the building, hugs and all
- Read below for what Ovechkin said to new winger Jordan Kyrou and where he sits on the all-time list
Alex Ovechkin is back in Washington.
The Capitals captain turned up at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Friday after a long summer in Russia, and the team filmed his whole lap through the building. The one everybody will replay came in the weight room, where Ovechkin met new top-six winger Jordan Kyrou for the first time.
“Great to meet you, man,” Kyrou said.
“Welcome to the team, bro,” Ovechkin replied.
Watch the whole thing:
Ovechkin came through the turnstile doors with a bundle of taped-up sticks over his shoulder and went straight to work on the room. Cole Hutson got the first hello.
“How’s it going?” Ovechkin said. “Have a good summer?” Hutson asked. “I did,” Ovechkin replied.
Tom Wilson gave the loudest greeting of the bunch. His “Oh, wow. Oooooo!” carried down the hallway before the two of them collided into a hug.
Matt Roy, Martin Fehervary, assistant GM Ross Mahoney and player development coach Brooks Orpik all got a handshake or a hug. Prospects Patrick Thomas and David Gucciardi looked like they had no idea what to do with themselves in the weight room.
Orpik summed up the visit in two words: “Movie star.”
The visit is the first public sighting of Ovechkin since he re-signed in July on a one-year deal worth $4.25 million. We had the news the day it broke:
That contract makes him the sixth player in league history to spend 22 seasons with one franchise. The Capitals put the rest of the resume out there when they announced it.
That is 1,687 points on 929 goals and 758 assists across 1,573 games, every one of them in a Washington sweater. The regular-season goal record has belonged to him since April 2025.
One Wayne Gretzky number is still out there. Gretzky scored 122 more in the playoffs on top of his 894 in the regular season, which puts him at 1,016 for his career. Ovechkin has 77 playoff goals to go with the 929, so he needs 10 to take that one too.
Where he plays after this season is a separate conversation, and one that has followed him all summer. Dynamo Moscow has made no secret of wanting him back, as we covered when the KHL club said it would build around him. He is not short on admirers around the league either, as Matvei Michkov’s jersey swap story made clear last week.
Capitals training camp opens September 17. Ovechkin turns 41 that same day.
