On 5 October, before a Washington practice, Alex Ovechkin told his team-mates what they had been expecting for a couple of years: the 2026/27 season will be his last in the NHL. ‘This summer my family and I decided that this year would be my last in the league. In my heart I know it is the right decision,’ he said. And he added, without any pathos: ‘It’s sad, but that’s how it goes.’
Ovechkin is 41, this is his 22nd NHL season, and all of them for one club. We look at his Alex Ovechkin goals, how many goals he has scored this season, which records he can still reach and what comes next.
How many Alex Ovechkin goals has he scored today?
As of 21 October 2026, Alex Ovechkin has 930 goals in NHL regular seasons — a league record. He scored his first goal of the final season on 11 October in his fifth game, against Seattle and Joey Daccord, although Washington lost 3-5. Ovechkin: NHL stats after nine games of the 2026/27 season:
- regular seasons — 1582 games, 930 goals, 761 assists, 1691 points;
- play-offs — 161 games, 77 goals, 70 assists;
- total including the play-offs — 1007 goals;
- 2026/27 season — 9 games, 1 goal, 3 assists.
Ovechkin’s goals total including the play-offs is counted separately, because that is the total in which Gretzky still holds the last goalscoring record. More on that below.
Twenty-two seasons for the Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals picked Ovechkin first overall in the 2004 draft, but his debut had to be postponed: the 2004/05 NHL season was wrecked by a lockout. In his very first season in North America, 2005/06, he won the Calder Trophy as the best rookie. Then came a collection that would be enough for several careers:
- three Hart Trophies as the most valuable player — 2008, 2009 and 2013;
- three Ted Lindsay Awards voted by the players — 2008-2010;
- the Art Ross Trophy as the season’s top scorer in 2007/08;
- nine Maurice Richard Trophies as the top goalscorer — a league record;
- the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the play-offs in 2018.
That Cup is still the only one in Washington’s history. For the Russia national team Ovechkin won the World Championship three times — in 2008, 2012 and 2014.
Alex Ovechkin goals vs Gretzky: goal number 895
The main record, the one the whole hockey world was following Ovechkin for, fell in spring 2025. On 4 April, in a game against Chicago, he scored twice to draw level with Wayne Gretzky — 894 goals in regular seasons. Two days later, on 6 April, at UBS Arena in Elmont he scored on the power play in the second period: a wrist shot at 7:26 past Ilya Sorokin, his 895th goal, and Ovechkin became the outright record holder. So the answer to the question of when Ovechkin broke the Gretzky goal record is precise: 6 April 2025.
Washington lost that game to the Islanders 1-4, but few people remember that. What is remembered is something else: Sorokin, who conceded the historic goal, gave Ovechkin his stick. In return, by his own account, he asked only for respect.
900 and 1000 goals
He reached the round number at the start of the following season. On 5 November 2025, in a home game against St. Louis (6-1), Ovechkin pounced on a rebound off Jordan Binnington at 2:39 of the second period and became the first player in NHL history to score 900 goals in regular seasons.
And on 22 March 2026 Ovechkin scored his 1000th NHL goal including the play-offs (923 in the regular season and 77 in the Stanley Cup). He scored on the power play at 14:17 of the third period past Colorado and Mackenzie Blackwood, making it 2-2. Before him, only Gretzky had scored a thousand goals in the league. Washington lost the game in overtime 2-3. The outcome of the 2025/26 season was 32 goals and 32 assists in 82 games, the best on the team for goals and points. Washington missed the play-offs for the first time since the 2022/23 season.
Which Gretzky record Ovechkin has not broken
Ovechkin already holds the regular-season record — 930 goals against Gretzky’s 894. But Gretzky still has one more summit: the combined total of goals in the regular season and the play-offs, 1016. Including the play-offs, Ovechkin has 1007. How many goals does Ovechkin need to reach Gretzky’s record? Nine to draw level, and ten to become the outright record holder. The play-offs are still ahead this season, and goals there count too. For a player who scored 32 last season, the task looks realistic, although at 41 nobody can give any guarantees.
Club milestones
There is also a target within the club. After the game against New Jersey on 17 October, Ovechkin has 761 assists in regular seasons — one fewer than Nicklas Bäckström, Washington’s record holder for assists. In the same game he won a game after his team had been trailing for the 347th time, drawing level on that measure with Joe Thornton in second place in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin contract for the final season
After the 2025/26 season Ovechkin seriously considered retiring. In the end, on 2 July Washington announced a new one-year contract. Its structure is unusual: a salary of $1 million, a signing bonus of $3.25 million and another $4.75 million for games played — provided he plays at least ten games. In the summer he would not promise that the season would be his last, answering in the spirit of ‘we’ll see’. Certainty came only in October.
Ovechkin’s final season in the NHL
He wanted to announce the decision before the first home game, so as to have time to thank everyone who had been by his side throughout his career. Ovechkin will also devote his final season to charity: from November, Washington will announce a new social initiative involving him on the eighth of every month.
The start was brisk: in the first game Washington beat the reigning Stanley Cup holders Carolina 5-2, and on 7 October, in Ovechkin’s last home season opener, they beat Pittsburgh 5-3. After nine games the team has five wins and four defeats. Ovechkin himself puts the task simply: to reach the play-offs and enjoy the season.
When will Ovechkin retire?
He will end his NHL career after the 2026/27 season: the last game of the regular season or, if Washington reach the play-offs, the last game in the Stanley Cup will be his farewell in the league. A whole regular season lies ahead, and almost every road trip this season is Ovechkin’s last visit to someone’s city as an active player.
Will Ovechkin return to the KHL?
There is no direct answer yet, but Ovechkin has made his intention clear. In July 2026, after signing the contract with Washington, he said: ‘My last game in hockey will be for Dynamo Moscow.’ He was talking specifically about the last game, not a full season. Ovechkin grew up in the Dynamo academy, spent his first seasons in senior hockey at the club, played for it during the 2012/13 lockout and has been listed as a club adviser since 2010.
In August Dynamo’s new general director, Anatoly Kharchuk, said that he had met Ovechkin and promised that, if he returned, the team would be built around him. There is no contract with the KHL club, and it is unknown in what format the return will take place. We looked at how the current championship is structured in our piece on the 2026/27 KHL season.
What happens next
For the NHL this is the end of an era that began in 2005. For Russian hockey it is the finale of the overseas career of a player who for twenty years was its main face in North America. Every goal by Alex Ovechkin this season brings him closer to Gretzky’s last record, and he still has enough time to write the final chapter.
Frequently asked questions about Alex Ovechkin
How many goals has Ovechkin scored?
As of 21 October 2026, Alex Ovechkin has 930 goals in NHL regular seasons and 77 in the play-offs, 1007 in total. In the 2026/27 season he has scored one goal in nine games.
How many goals has Ovechkin scored all time?
Ovechkin broke the regular-season record (894 goals) on 6 April 2025. To reach Gretzky’s record for the regular season and play-offs combined (1016) he needs nine goals to draw level and ten to surpass it.
When did Ovechkin score 1000 goals?
On 22 March 2026 in the game against Colorado: it was his 1000th NHL goal including the play-offs. He scored his 900th goal in regular seasons on 5 November 2025.
Is Alex Ovechkin retiring?
On 5 October 2026 Ovechkin announced that the 2026/27 season would be his last in the NHL. He has not spoken about retiring from hockey altogether: he wants to play his last game for Dynamo.
Will Ovechkin return to the KHL?
Ovechkin has said that he will play the last game of his career for Dynamo Moscow, and the club promises to build the team around him. There is no contract and no decision yet on the format of the return.
How old is Ovechkin?
Alex Ovechkin was born on 17 September 1985 in Moscow; he is 41. He is 191 cm tall and weighs 108 kg, and plays under number 8.
