{"id":687148,"date":"2026-06-06T02:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687148\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T02:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:33:19","slug":"alex-ovechkin-2025-26-season-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687148\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Ovechkin: 2025-26 season review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Ovechkin<\/a> scored a ton of goals in his age-40 season, but it still feels like he could have done more. But: will he do more?<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/p>\n

On-ice percentages<\/p>\n

Isolated Impact \u00a0by HockeyViz<\/p>\n

\"HockeyViz
About this visualization: \u00a0This image by \u00a0Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com<\/a> \u00a0shows how the player has impacted play when on the ice. At the top of the image is the team\u2019s offense (even strength at left, power play at right) and at bottom is the team\u2019s defense (with penalty kill at bottom right). In each case, red\/orange blobs mean teams shoot for more from that location on the ice, and blue\/purple means less. In general, a good player should have red\/orange blobs near the opponent\u2019s net at top, and blue\/purple blobs near their own team\u2019s net at bottom. The distributions in middle show how the player compares to league average at individual finishing, setting up teammates to score, and taking and drawing penalties. The number at center is Synthetic Goals: a catch-all number for the player\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

Player Card \u00a0by Evolving Hockey<\/p>\n

\"Evolving
About this player card: \u00a0This card from Josh and Luke of \u00a0Evolving Hockey<\/a> \u00a0compares the player to league averages based on their impact on on-ice statistics. GAR means \u201cgoals above replacement,\u201d where \u201creplacement\u201d means an average player called up from the AHL. xGAR is the same figure but assuming league-average goaltending. The numbers at top are the player\u2019s percentile ranks overall and then for offense and defense alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Player Overview \u00a0by NHL Edge<\/p>\n

\"NHL
About this visualization: \u00a0The NHL\u2019s advanced statistics program, Edge<\/a>, tracks player and puck movement. The player\u2019s shot speed, skating speed, and skating distance are at top along with percentile rank. At bottom left is a shot location map, and at bottom right is zone time per zone.<\/p>\n

Gratuitous Generative Art by Peter<\/p>\n

Using p5.js, the player\u2019s name is a seed that randomizes a bunch of values in an animated canvas with glitchy effects that should be gradual enough not to mess with people with sensory issues. Not AI. Not all that different from Logo, which I learned in like 1992.<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s Take<\/p>\n

89<\/p>\n

Percentile among forwards<\/p>\n

Age 40 \u00b7 6\u20193\u2033 \u00b7 238 lbs \u00b7 \ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa \u00b7 \u264d\ufe0f<\/p>\n

2025-26 stats<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin scored 32 goals in his age-40 season. Only two players in history have ever done more: Gordie Howe (44), and Johnny Bucyk (36). That\u2019s a major accomplishment, and yet it still feels like a disappointment. A big chunk of that disappointment is the power play.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a photo:<\/p>\n

\"\"ex-Caps coach Kirk Muller (\ud83d\udcf8: Katie Adler\/RMNB)<\/p>\n

Ovechkin scored just five power-play goals, a career low. On the PP he shot 5.8 percent, also a career low and less than a third of his 2024-25 power-play shooting percentage. He still shot a lot of volume, and he still shot hard, but the Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot was a lot less dangerous than in seasons past \u2013 and how is critical. Goalies stopped it. It wasn\u2019t missing the net more, it wasn\u2019t happening less (not a lot), it wasn\u2019t weakly shot \u2013 it just got stopped by the goalie more.<\/p>\n

(That\u2019s just my high-level summary of what happened on the power play; there\u2019s a lot more and a lot more nuance we could go over, but this review is over 2000 words.)<\/p>\n

I call it the Ovi Spot, but location is just one part of it. The puck movement before the shot is crucial too, and that\u2019s where the Caps power play was so aggravating last season. They were bad at gaining the zone, which I think was their fundamental problem, but once they were in the zone they were statuesque, which was more frustrating.<\/p>\n

This was apparent before even Thanksgiving<\/a> (US Thanksgiving, which is the only correct Thanksgiving). But the Caps did not make the obvious change they needed to make: replace the power-play coach. They didn\u2019t, and it cost them a playoff appearance. It was a huge mistake, and Spencer Carbery has to wear it. But Kirk Muller is gone now<\/a>, and that portends well for Alex Ovechkin\u2019s 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

Wait, hold on a second. I\u2019m reading here that Alex Ovechkin is not under contract for 2026-27. I\u2019m stunned.<\/p>\n

Scroll down in this article and you\u2019ll see an exhaustive summary of Alex Ovechkin retirement stories from the past year. The general idea is this: Ovi punts on the idea of retirement, Nastya think he\u2019s retiring, Tatyana thinks he\u2019s not, every other NHL player thinks he can play until 2040, and the Caps don\u2019t seem prepared.<\/p>\n

But seeming is just the chunk of the glacier above the water line. Everything\u2019s happening where we can\u2019t see. Health evaluations, family discussions, business schemes, global politics, anchoring, signaling, posturing, planning to plan and negotiating how they\u2019ll negotiate. If you asked me, and by opening this web page you freaking did, I think he\u2019s coming back. Ovechkin repeatedly said his health is a chief determining factor, and I believe him on that. I also believe he\u2019s a machine, and he\u2019s spending the early summer running diagnostics on that machine.<\/p>\n

This is good, even if you don\u2019t have a business writing about the Washington Capitals. Because even if he\u2019s slow and not defensively inclined, Ovechkin is still a very special player. Surrounded by the young pups in this new generation of Caps \u2013 the Pros and Lenos and Hutsons \u2013 he will once again do what he loves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m calling it: This is not the final Alex Ovechkin season review on RMNB.<\/p>\n

Ovi on RMNB<\/p>\n

Strap in.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Alex Ovechkin immaculately working a t-shirt gun<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin has earned the most money in NHL history<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Wayne Gretzky forgot he promised Alex Ovechkin a car when he scores 900 goals: \u2018That\u2019s news to me.\u2019 So did Ovi: \u2018I\u2019m too old for this stuff.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin gets his road trip Subway sandwich personally delivered and always has a six-pack of beer waiting for him on the team plane<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Jordan Binnington tried to steal Alex Ovechkin\u2019s milestone 900th goal puck<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin scores 33rd career hat trick in Capitals\u2019 8-4 beatdown of Canadiens: \u2018Right now we kind of start clicking\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin hosts clinic for players with developmental disabilities: \u2018A couple of kids (told me) congrats about the record and the 900, so that\u2019s special\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin is not watching the Olympics<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin scores 34th career hat trick against an NHL record 21st different team, the Utah Mammoth<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Evgeni Malkin plays hallway hockey at Alex Ovechkin\u2019s house after traveling for Capitals-Penguins game in DC<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This is just the retirement beat<\/p>\n

These are in chronological orders, so it\u2019s like reading a wiki entry on significant events in the Second Age of Middle-Earth.<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin reportedly not interested in a farewell tour, liked how Wayne Gretzky announced retirement ahead of final regular-season game<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin on potential retirement after Capitals beat Columbus in season finale: \u2018I hope it\u2019s not my last game. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Your Turn<\/p>\n

Is he done?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcca<\/p>\n

This story would not be possible without<\/p>\n

Please consider joining us in supporting them.<\/p>\n

Read More Player Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Ovechkin scored a ton of goals in his age-40 season, but it still feels like he could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-687148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}