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Alexander “the Great’s” contract with the team from the U.S. capital expired on July 1. The Capitals have not yet indicated that they intend to extend the contract with the 40-year-old Russian forward. This means that Ovechkin has become an unrestricted free agent.
The NHL free-agent market opens today at 7:00 p.m. Moldovan time. Whether any NHL team will express interest in signing the star forward—and whether he himself wants to continue his career—remains to be seen.
Ovechkin previously stated that he had not yet decided whether to continue his career, but did not rule out the possibility of another one-year contract. He also made it clear that he would prefer to sign it with the Washington Capitals as well.
He has spent his entire career with this team. Ovechkin signed his first three-year contract with the Capitals on August 31, 2005. His second contract—a 13-year deal—was signed on January 10, 2008, under which he earned approximately $10 million per year. His third contract, a five-year deal, was signed under roughly the same terms.
During this time, Alexander Ovechkin became the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer, netting 929 goals and surpassing the legendary Wayne Gretzky. He is close to breaking another of Gretzky’s “all-time” records—1,016 goals, including playoff rounds. Ovechkin is currently 10 goals short.
Therefore, it’s possible that the legendary hockey player will spend one more season in the NHL to break this record as well.
And among the league’s teams, there are sure to be those eager to sign such a prolific forward—even at age 40, he scored 32 goals and recorded the same number of assists in 82 games last season. This marks the 20th time in his 21-season NHL career that he has surpassed the 30-goal mark in a single season.
