The man who finally overtook Wayne Gretzky has an exit date, and the opponent for his first home game of the goodbye year is the one name his career has always been measured against.
Alex Ovechkin told his teammates on Monday morning that this is his final NHL season, with the Capitals releasing a statement hours before the home opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“My family and I decided this summer that this will be my final year in the NHL,” Ovechkin said.
“I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it’s the right decision.”
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He enters the season on 929 career goals, past Gretzky’s old mark of 894, a record he broke in April 2025. The 2026-27 campaign is his 22nd straight with Washington; he has never played an NHL game for anyone else.
Ovechkin addressed the dressing room in person before the statement went out, explaining why he wanted it done early.
“It was important for me to make this announcement before our first home game so I have the chance to thank all the people around the game,” he said.
To his teammates, the tone was more informal.
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“It’s sad, but it is what it is. It’s hard, but let’s enjoy it and let’s do some special things this year.”
“Let’s make the playoffs, let’s have fun and enjoy the moment because times fly.”
“I’m not 20 years old. I want to play with my kids when they’re growing up.”
He signed off the official statement with “See you Wednesday, babes!”, a nod to the game that follows.
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Pittsburgh leads the regular-season series 43-28-4
Ovechkin was the first overall pick in 2004 and Sidney Crosby went first overall a year later; for the two decades since, the two names have shared every end-of-season leaderboard.
The teams have met 76 times in the regular season during Ovechkin’s career, according to Yardbarker, with Pittsburgh holding a 43-28-4 edge. Three more meetings are scheduled this season.
In the playoffs they faced each other four times, in 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and in each series the team that advanced went on to lift the Stanley Cup.
Crosby, speaking ahead of Wednesday’s game, did not pretend to be surprised that the end was coming.
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“Definitely have had some great battles over the years. Obviously, once you get to our age, that’s something that you have to make decisions on.”
Washington’s season has already opened on the road. Wednesday night at home is the formal start of the farewell tour, and the schedule has another date circled for Ovechkin and Crosby: the Capitals’ final regular-season home game, on 4 April 2027, is against the Penguins again.
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