The NHL’s all-time goals leader still isn’t ready to hang up the skates.
Capitals icon Alex Ovechkin agreed to a one-year contract extension for a 22nd NHL season that includes a $1 million base salary, a $3.25 million signing bonus, and a subsequent $4.75 million bonus if he plays in at least 10 games next season.
Ovechkin, who turns 41 in September and is the first in NHL history with 929 goals, had been contemplating retirement. Despite that uncertainty, he also was a prime figure in the league’s free-agent market that formally opened Wednesday, though any return almost certainty would not have included a team other than the Capitals.
“I’m back,” Ovechkin said in a statement. “I’m healthy. I love playing hockey and competing to win. I’m excited to come back and join my teammates.”
With the 22nd season, Ovechkin will also become the longest-tenured athlete in Washington, D.C., pro sports history, passing Baseball Hall of Famer Walter Johnson of the original MLB Senators.
During the 2025–26 season, the Capitals had just their second non-playoff campaign since 2014. In the last week, however, the team has refortified itself through a sign-and-trade deal with the Sabres to land star forward Alex Tuch, and with free-agent signings of center Boone Jenner and defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Justin Holl.
Those moves in part seek to take advantage of an NHL record $104 million salary cap next season.
Ovechkin has also driven extensive amounts of business across hockey over the past two-plus decades. His high-profile GR8 Chase early last year in pursuit of the NHL goal-scoring record created a burst of additional national media exposure for the Capitals, as well as a large-scale collectibles campaign to capitalize on it.
Over the entire Ovechkin era, the Capitals have remained one of the most consistently successful and most-watched teams in the league—contrasting sharply against the Wizards, the sister NBA team in the Ted Leonsis-led Monumental Sports & Entertainment that has been one of that league’s worst franchises for more than a generation.
Ovechkin, Leonsis, and SVP and GM Chris Patrick are set to discuss the signing further on Monday.
