Alex Ovechkin, the National Hockey League’s all-time leading goalscorer, will retire at the end of the season. The 41-year-old Russian, who is playing his 22nd consecutive NHL season with the Washington Capitals, said he wanted to make the announcement before the team’s first home game.
Ovechkin took the scoring record in April 2025, when his 895th career goal moved him past Wayne Gretzky’s regular-season total. The Canadian Hall of Famer had held the mark for 31 years after overtaking Gordie Howe in 1994. Ovechkin has now scored 929 regular-season goals, ahead of Gretzky on 894, Howe on 801, Jaromir Jagr on 766 and Brett Hull on 741.
Across 1,575 games for Washington he has 1,688 points, made up of 929 goals and 759 assists, the 10th-highest points total in league history. Two more milestones are within reach in his final season. He needs 11 goals to pass Gretzky for the most combined regular-season and play-off goals, and four assists to overtake Nicklas Backstrom’s franchise record of 762.
In a statement, Ovechkin said he “loves this game so much” but knew in his heart that retiring was the right decision. He said he wanted to thank the people who had supported him and his family through good times and hard defeats, and that he planned to enjoy every moment of the season with his team-mates, his sons and the fans. He is due to play at home on Wednesday, when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Capital One Arena.
Washington picked Ovechkin first overall in the 2004 NHL Draft. He moved from Dynamo Moscow to North America at 20 and scored twice on his debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets in October 2005. He was central to the Capitals’ only Stanley Cup win in 2017-18 and holds the NHL record for 40-goal seasons, having reached that mark in 14 of his 21 campaigns. His goal celebrations have made him one of the most familiar faces in the league’s own marketing.
