Alex Ovechkin’s 2024-25 season will forever be remembered in hockey history. The Great 8 defied Father Time, dominating the league at 39 years old on his way to a 73-point (44 goals, 29 assists) campaign despite playing in only 65 games.
One of those 44 goals just so happened to be more important than the others, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record with a snipe from his office on the power play past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
Now that he officially holds the mark as the greatest goal scorer of all time, many have wondered whether the 2025-26 season would be Ovi’s last, especially given that his contract expires at the end of the year.
While that remains a possibility, retirement is not on Ovechkin’s mind right now. Here was what he had to say in a recent interview with Russian news publication Peterburg2.
“I understand that hockey is not forever, but I am not thinking about it now. According to my contract, I am prohibited from doing extreme sports, such as alpine skiing or snowboarding,” Ovechkin said.
Ovechkin is set to enter the final season of the five-year, $47.5 million contract extension he signed with the Capitals in 2021.
Could Ovechkin start a new chase?
If Alex Ovechkin has the desire to continue playing for a few more years, then perhaps there’s a new milestone he could chase to once again captivate the hockey world.
With 897 career goals, Ovechkin needs just 103 more tucks to become the first player in NHL history to hit the 1,000-goal mark. That’s still a ways away, but if the Great 8 signed another two-year contract beyond next season, then things would start getting real.
Ovechkin has averaged just over 49 goals per season throughout his 20-year career thus far. Multiply that by three, and he would well surpass 1,000, so you can even factor in some decline given his age.
It’s probably not on his mind right now, but hockey fans certainly have it in the back of their minds should Ovi decide to keep playing into his forties.
