Alex Ovechkin shocks the hockey world with major career announcement
The cat might finally be out of the bag as Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin reveals his plans after his current contract runs out. As "The Great 8" chases the all-time record for most career goals, the question in everyone's mind is when he would hang his skates and call it a career.
Back in October, Ovechkin talked about his own retirement, unprompted, which was something of a rarity from the superstar because he's kept quiet about that topic for years:
"Still enjoy it," Ovechkin said in October. "As soon as I'm not going to enjoy it, it's probably not right for me to stay here and play the game the way I wanted to play."
In a recent interview with Sport-Express' Igor Rabiner, the 38-year-old was asked up front whether or not he would retire from the game he loves at the conclusion of his contract:
"I think, yes," Ovechkin said, as translated via Google Translate.
With that as his response, it should come as no surprise with how his 2023-24 season has unfolded. It's been a rough one for the 19-year veteran as he has just 14 goals through 49 games played. He does have 23 assists to give him 37 points - a respectable total - but based on his career trajectory, it's been a steep drop off in production, as is expected at that advanced age.
Ovechkin has scored 264 goals in his last 426 games, which is a span of 6 seasons. Within those 6 years, he toppled the 40-goal mark 5 times and 50-goal plateau twice. Even just last year he scored 42 goals.
Perhaps chasing the record has gotten in the way, but the Capitals have also struggled to put up offense this year and the injuries haven't helped the cause. Ovechkin has 2 years remaining on his current contract with a cap hit of $9.5 million, which should be plenty of time for him to reach Wayne Gretzky's record.
As for his plans after the NHL, the opportunity to play in the KHL has always intrigued Ovechkin. He stills checks in on his former teammates and friends like Ilya Kovalchuk, who returned to the KHL at the age of 40 this year:
"I check the [KHL scores] periodically," Ovechkin said. "Ilya is great, we talked to him recently. Getting ready for the playoffs. I think this man, with his health and approach to business, can play until he is 50 years old. The most important thing is that he himself wants it."
With his mind almost made up, the hockey world will be rooting for the superstar forward to be able to score 59 goals in the next 2+ seasons to break what many thought was an unbreakable record.
Will he stick around for an extra season or two if he's just fallen short of the mark?
"I don't like the word 'if'," Ovechkin said. "We live today, we play, we move on."
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 18 | 916 ANSWERS Alex Ovechkin shocks the hockey world with major career announcement Do you think Ovechkin will surpass Wayne Gretzky's 894 career goals? | ||
| Yes | 363 | 39.6 % |
| No | 553 | 60.4 % |
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