Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is back from vacation and in the gym, as he's kicked off training for the upcoming NHL season.
Ovechkin posted an update on his Telegram, sharing with fans that he's back prepping for the year with longtime trainer Pavel Burlachenko.
The 39-year-old is coming off a historic season where he scored 44 goals — the third-most in the league — to overtake Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, despite missing 16 games due to a broken leg.
“To be honest with you, you never thought how many games you’re going to play. You never think how many goals you’re going to score because you never know what’s going to happen on the ice," Ovechkin said. "I was lucky enough this year to be able to score the goals to break the record, obviously, and I’m looking forward for next year. I’m going to be 40 and I’m going to try to do my best to play and my team is going to help me, too.”
Ovechkin is going into what will be his 21st NHL season and the final year of the five-year contract he signed back in 2021. He has not made any decision regarding his NHL future beyond next season, despite speculation that this could be his final year.
"To be honest with you, I haven’t thought about it yet, but we’ll see what’s going to happen," Ovechkin said at season's end. "Obviously, I’m going to try to do my best to be able to do well next year and, how I said, we'll see."