The future of Alex Ovechkin’s NHL career is still one of the biggest topics hanging over the Washington Capitals in the early stages of their offseason.
One man who has unique insight into the process for more than one reason is former Capitals forward TJ Oshie. The 2018 Stanley Cup champion not only had to make his own retirement decision just last year, but he is also close friends with Ovechkin and recently had a one-on-one conversation with the man himself ahead of the Capitals’ final regular-season game in Columbus.
“If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have said [he isn’t coming back],” Oshie shared in an interview with the Home by 3 podcast. “But I did their last game in Columbus. Met the boys the night before, had a couple pops. All the other guys took off, and me and O stayed for probably an hour and just chatted, me and him. I think he needed to finish out the season, see where his body was. I’m going to say he’s probably coming back for one more farewell tour, like a real one. I think he needed to step away from the media after breaking the record a little bit.
“I think he’ll sign a one-year deal. I think it’d probably be a little bit more fair contract-wise to him than to the club, maybe just as like a thanks for everything you’ve done type thing. This is all completely my own opinion. I haven’t talked to anyone about this, especially with the team. I think there’s a chance because his boys are young, and they love hockey, and they love watching him. They’re at every game. It doesn’t matter if we play at like 7:30 at night on a school night. The boys are on the glass. I think he wants to play in front of them for one more year. So, I think he’s coming back.”
Oshie’s mention of Ovechkin’s two hockey-loving sons, Sergei and Ilya, as part of the motivation behind a potential return, rings even truer after Ovechkin himself brought them up in his Breakdown Day media availability on Thursday.
“They want me to come back because they love the city, they love the team, they love the boys,” Ovechkin said.
As far as the salary number Ovechkin would command, the Capitals should have plenty of cap space, $36.6 million per PuckPedia, to both do right by Ovechkin and add to their roster. The latter is doubly important as returning to the playoffs and competing for the franchise’s second Stanley Cup is part of what Ovechkin wants to see if he is to play one more year.
Ovechkin made $9.5 million this past season, and per AFPAnalytics, could be looking at a similar cap hit of $9.1 million if he were to sign a one-year extension. The Capitals will be aided by having multiple impressive young players, including Cole Hutson, Ilya Protas, and Ryan Leonard, who are expected to be major contributors but are still only on their entry-level contracts.
As of Breakdown Day, Ovechkin said he has not yet spoken with general manager Chris Patrick. According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the Capitals would like to be informed of what Ovechkin wants to do before the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26-27.
If he doesn’t re-sign before then, Ovechkin will officially become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
