As the end of his contract draws near with the close of the regular season, Washington Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin is still deciding whether to keep his storied career going or to hang up his skates.

“We’re going to make a decision in the summer,” the 40-year-old left winger said in a video released Wednesday by the Capitals. “I have to talk to my family, with [owner] Ted [Leonsis]” and other people in his circle.

He said his biggest consideration is health: He’s about to turn 41 in September.

“You just have to be smart about it,” he said.

Since being drafted first overall in 2004, Ovechkin has skated his way into all-time great territory.

The Moscow native debuted in 2005 and played in all but one game and won the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL’s rookie of the year, with 52 goals and 54 assists.

In the last 20 years, Ovechkin has been named an All-Star 12 times (and could have been more, but he decided not to attend several); won the league’s most valuable player award, the Hart Memorial Trophy, three times; and received the Maurice Richard Trophy, presented to the league’s top goal scorer, a record nine times.

He’s also been named the most outstanding player in an award voted on by his peers three times.

On April 6, 2025, Ovechkin broke the scoring record held by the most famous hockey player of all time: Wayne Gretzky’s 894 career goals. He scored it on his signature shot, a one-timer from the left circle, and he celebrated it with characteristic glee, belly-flopping and sliding across the ice.

Ovechkin has had the 2025-26 season to build his lead, and sits at 928 regular season goals. On March 22, Ovechkin scored his 1,000th goal counting the playoffs, joining Gretzky as the only two NHL players to reach 1,000 goals in NHL history.

Although he achieved personal success from the moment he arrived, it took 13 seasons to win the Stanley Cup. When the Caps finally brought the cup home in 2018, the players made headlines for how much fun they had celebrating. It was dubbed “The Summer of Ovi.”

Ovechkin has spent his entire 21-year career with the Capitals. His five-year, $47.5 million contract expires at the end of this season. He is the second-oldest active NHL player and is among just four 40-year-olds still in the league. On March 18, Ovechkin was joined for the first time by a teammate, Cole Hutson, who was born after Ovechkin’s NHL debut.

Former teammate T.J. Oshie asked Ovechkin this season how he would decide if it was time to retire.

“How my body gonna feel,” Ovechkin said. “Because right now, hockey is so hard, it’s so fast. I’m 40, and it’s hard to keep up with young guys. You know? But most important thing is health-wise. I don’t wanna be like, I don’t wanna play hockey, and then after one or two years, my knee or my elbow or my back is gonna be hurting. So I’m not gonna feel comfortable for the rest of my life. So I have to be smart about it.”

Ovechkin also said he would be interested in finishing his career where he started it, skating in the Kontinental Hockey League for Dynamo Moscow, even if it’s only for a game or two. He also played for Dynamo Moscow during the 2012 lockout.