The “Great 8” is not under contract after the 2025-26 season and has already made it known he’ll decide on his future in the summer.

So, after two decades of captivating hockey fans as competitors turned admirers, Crosby sat down to share his thoughts with The Athletic on Ovechkin’s uncertain future, something he admits has “been on my mind quite a bit.”

“I’ve been thinking about him a lot, because I know it’s something that has got to be on his mind constantly right now. When you get to a certain age, it’s the way it is. Every player is going to have to deal with it at some point.”

It’s no secret that Crosby is also in the twilight of his career at age 38 and in his 21st NHL season, but his Penguins are in a better spot at this point — having clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022 — than Ovechkin’s Capitals. Washington is going to miss the playoffs for the second time in four seasons and is in the midst of a roster retool.

The Penguins’ competitive outlook and Crosby being under contract through next season have made his future, at least in the short-term, a simpler situation to navigate than the many potential paths Ovechkin can consider after this season.

“He’s accomplished so much and has had an amazing career,” Crosby explained. “And I know that he still has an incredible passion for that game. That’s obvious. It’s definitely crossed my mind a lot lately, wondering what he’s going to do, because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

And should the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer decide to hang up his skates, Crosby has no qualms admitting it would feel unusual.

“Yeah, it would be so weird if he’s not around anymore,” the Penguins star said. “It would be weird, especially because we’ve (almost) always been in the same division. We see each other so often. We came into the league together. So, really, it’s all we’ve ever known. There have been changes. You play with a lot of different guys over the course of 20 years. But for me, seeing him a few times a year, and seeing him in the playoffs, has always been a constant.”

Including the playoffs, Crosby and Ovechkin have faced off 101 times. And it’s the battles between their two teams — meeting in the post-season four times, each series going at least six games, including two Game 7s — that the Cole Harbour, N.S. native will seemingly think about most when he eventually calls it quits and looks back on his career.

“Those were incredible series,” the Penguins captain said. “We had to go through them to get there. The way that both teams played in the regular season was just getting into position to play each other in the playoffs. We basically built our teams with the other team in mind, knowing that the other one would probably be there. And the way those series went, the Game 7s. There are a ton of memories from those games, those series. There will be a ton of memories for me in terms of playing against (Ovechkin) over the years, but those series will stick out above everything else. I’ll think about those forever.”

And in looking back on their clashes, Crosby finds himself admiring much more about Ovechkin’s game than just his goal-scoring prowess.

“People talk about (Ovechkin’s) shot, and yeah, it’s great,” Crosby said. “But the thing about him back then was, he’d have six or seven huge hits during the course of a game, even though he was playing all of those minutes. That’s so hard to do. Just an incredible hockey player.”

So as the pair of future Hall of Famers prepare to share the ice for possibly the last time in their storied careers, Crosby is grateful for the opportunity to do so.

“If this is it for him, if that’s the way it works out, I think it’s pretty cool that the schedule worked out the way it did,” Crosby said. “I feel very fortunate that I’ve gotten to be in the same division against the greatest goal scorer of all time. It’s been an honour.”

The first of back-to-back games between the Penguins and Capitals takes place on Saturday. Catch the action on Sportsnet+ at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT.