- Wayne Gretzky weighed in on Alex Ovechkin calling 2026-27 his final NHL season
- The Great One kept his own retirement quiet in 1999, even from his dad
- Read below for what Gretzky thinks it means for Sidney Crosby
Wayne Gretzky doesn’t see Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby walking away at the same time.
The Great One spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic this week about Ovechkin’s decision to make this his last NHL season. Gretzky said he saw it coming, and he figures the 39-year-old Crosby still has plenty left.
Gretzky explained why the Ovechkin news didn’t catch him off guard:
“I kind of thought that it would be his last year,” Gretzky said. “It’s hard when you get over the age of 38. That’s why Gordie Howe was so unique. Chris Chelios, playing as long as he did. And listen, what Sidney (Crosby) is doing now is incredible. I can’t imagine those two guys would retire the same year, so that’s why I think Sid has at least another year in him. They both deserve their own (farewell) tour.”
He isn’t seeing any decline in the Penguins captain, either. Gretzky said he brought it up off air last week with his TNT colleagues Anson Carter, Paul Bissonnette and Henrik Lundqvist.
“If you watch a tape of the game Sidney played tonight, you wouldn’t know if he was 31 or 39,” Gretzky said. “He plays the exact same way. He has the same speed. Obviously, he’s a way smarter player because of his years of experience. He might be a better player today than he was at 32. Which is incredible. He’s like Tom Brady or LeBron James.”
Gretzky went out a lot differently in 1999. He tried to keep his retirement a secret until the end, and word only leaked during his second-to-last game in Ottawa before his finale at Madison Square Garden.
He laughed about how far he went to keep it quiet:
“Everybody’s different. I didn’t want to talk about it. I knew if I told my dad, he would tell the world, so I didn’t tell my dad,” Gretzky said. “I told (my wife) Janet first, then I told my mom. I knew she could keep it quiet. Because I didn’t want to go on a (farewell) tour, and I didn’t want to offset the games for the guys.”
That doesn’t mean he thinks Ovechkin got it wrong. Gretzky made the case for why an early announcement works for the Capitals star:
“For Alex, every city is an event, you know? Because you only go there once or twice. So it’s a big event for him coming to town. So him announcing it isn’t going to change all that. Except now people will realize if they have a ticket for a Capitals game in January, they could sell it for 10 times the money.”
Ovechkin told his teammates Monday before practice, and Washington posted the speech right after:
The 41-year-old has 929 goals and 1,688 points in 1,575 career games, all with Washington. He passed Gretzky’s 894 for the all-time goals record in April 2025.
Reactions have poured in all week. Connor McDavid admitted he was a Sid fan growing up, while Crosby talked about the friendship he built with Ovechkin after years of being pitted against him. Here’s what Crosby had to say:
Crosby called it “some great battles over the years” and said the biggest thing is that Ovechkin is happy and enjoying it.
Those two meet again tonight. Ovechkin’s final home opener at Capital One Arena comes against Crosby and the Penguins, with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Gretzky’s last NHL game came against Pittsburgh, too.
