Currently in the midst of the 15th season in his very decorated NHL career, 34-year-old Alex Ovechkin has had an absolutely remarkable run and is showing no signs of slowing down. His impressive list of awards, accolades, accomplishments and milestones is so long that you could not list them all in a single breath. Ovechkin will be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, without a doubt.
Just for fun, not including individual milestones and NHL records, let's run down Ovi's hit list:
World Junior Championships gold, 2003.
Russian Superleague champion, 2005.
Kharlamov Trophy (Best Russian Player of the previous season), 2006-2010 inclusive, 2014, 2015, 2018.
Calder Memorial Trophy, 2006.
Art Ross Trophy, 2008.
Lester B. Pearson/Ted Lindsay Award, 2008, 2009, 2010.
Hart Memorial Trophy, 2008, 2009, 2013.
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019.
Gagarin Cup champion, 2013.
Conn Smythe Trophy, 2018.
Stanley Cup champion, 2018.
At present time, Ovechkin is on the penultimate season of a 13-year, $124 million contract, which began in the '08/'09 season and will expire in the summer of 2021. It is no secret that Ovi loves being a Washington Capital and would like to stay with the club throughout his entire NHL career. With that said, Ovi also loves Russia. In fact, many believe that once the Moscow native is satisfied with his NHL career, he may return to Russia to play for his hometown Moscow Dynamo, as he did during the 2012/2013 lockout.
With Ovechkin's contract nearing the end, with under 2 years remaining, it's a little surprising that Ovi and his agent have not yet had any advance discussions with Capitals GM Brian MacLellan regarding what a new contract for the 34-year-old might look like. Ovi will be 35 years old when his next contract is signed and 36 by the time he plays the first game on that contract. This is definitely going to be an interesting negotiation, whenever it begins. That, of course, is if he stays in North America.
In a Q&A between MacLellan and The Athletic, the Caps GM told Pierre LeBrun that he would love to have Ovi retire as a Washington Capital.
“Yeah, I mean, we obviously want Ovi to finish his career on a high – and in Washington. He's been a huge part of the organization, a huge part of the whole market in our area. He's grown the game, he's grown the franchise. We want him to play the right amount of years and we want him to feel good about his career and where he's at. Hopefully that all works out in his and the organization's favor at the end.”
In a recent appearance on the "31 Thoughts podcast" with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman, Ovechkin admitted that his future is unclear at this point.
“It's hard for me to say what's going to happen, but I'm pretty sure me and (Capitals owner Ted Leonsis) and (MacLellan) are going to talk about it in the future and we will decide,” he said. Later in the same podcast, he went on to say, “I think for us the most important thing is to get healthy. If you're healthy and you can still play the game you want to play, you should think about ‘OK, maybe a couple more years,' if not I don't want to be like player who signs a contract and then I'm like ‘OK, I'm hurt and I'm just going to get paycheque and enjoy my life.' I don't want to do that."
Whatever Ovi decides is the best decision for him and his family, surely the fans and the Capitals organization will support him whole-heartedly, raising his number 8 to the rafters in honor of the greatest player to have donned the Capitals red, white and blue and arguably the best pure goal-scorer in NHL history.
Source: Sportsnet
