Ovechkin sets tentative date for his NHL retirement.

One of the most iconic players currently active in the National Hockey League may soon be moving on to the next stage of his life.

During a recent Russian language interview, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin confirmed a tentative date for his retirement from the NHL. Ovechkin was asked if his current contract with the Capitals would be the last of his NHL career, and Ovechkin indicated that he does in fact believe that will be the case.

"I think yes," said Ovechkin regarding his retirement as per Sport Express.

Ovechkin signed a 5 year deal with the Capitals in July of 2021 and is currently in the third year of that deal. That means that Ovechkin expects to play out the remainder of this current season, the 2024-25 season and the 2025-26 season before hanging up his skates for good.

While I believe Ovechkin's answer here was sincere, you do have to wonder if he will be willing to walk away if he remains a few goals shy of catching Wayne Gretzky for the NHL's all-time scoring list. The question was posed to Ovechkin during the interview, but the Russian superstar gave a somewhat cryptic response to the question.

"I don’t like the word 'if,'" said Ovechkin. "We live today, we play, we move on."