Getty Image / Sergei SavostyanovTASS
Alex Ovechkin has shown zero signs of slowing down. He’s 35 years old which is a lot older than most professional athletes but he still managed 67 points (48 goals, 19 assists) in 68 games during the abbreviated 2019-2020 NHL season. The Washington Capitals are just two years removed from the organization’s first and only Stanley Cup championship and I’m certain the team would look to Ovi to help shape any young talent they want to bring in as the future of their organization.
That’s why it’s strange to me that Ovechkin would just come off the top ropes out of nowhere and say in a Russian interview that he doesn’t want to finish his professional hockey career playing with the Washington Capitals. Instead, Ovechkin has set his sights on returning to Mother Russia and putting his magnificent career to rest while playing in Moscow.
In the interview with Russian Television International, Alex Ovechkin specifically called out Dynamo Moscow in Russia as the team he wanted to finish his pro hockey career with:
Ovechkin only has one year left on the 13-year contract he signed with the Capitals and he’ll once again take in a $10,000,000 salary which he’s earned for the final 7 years of his contract. In total, he’ll earn $124,000,000 from his 13-year contract in addition to the $11,502,600 he brought in from 2005 to 2007. So the move to play hockey in Moscow wouldn’t appear to be about money. Not when you’re worth as much as he is.
Here he is just a few days ago at a Dynamo game with his kid:
Getty Image / Sergei SavostyanovTASS
According to NBC Sports, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan has said any contract extension negotiations with Ovi are on hold until the team returns to training camp, whenever that might be. Washington fans cannot love the news that Ovi wants to finish his career in Russia but he owes nothing to anyone and has left as much on the ice for Washington as any NHL player has done for his team. He’ll be given a hero’s salute if and when he decides to make the jump back to Russia.