A game between Ovechkin's Capitals and his former club, Dynamo Moscow, was among the proposed interleague matchups.
The NHL and KHL are no strangers to one another, with both leagues hosting a number of the same players over the years. And per KHL president Alexei Morozov, that relationship was possibly going to open the door to interleague games.
Morozov told MatchTV on Monday that the KHL had proposed hosting interleague games between KHL and NHL clubs, but the NHL is not planning on holding those exhibitions at this time.
One of the proposed games was between Dynamo Moscow and the Washington Capitals. Captain Alex Ovechkin played for Dynamo before joining the NHL and also skated with the club during the 2004-05 and 2012-13 NHL lockouts.
"We ourselves came out with a proposal to hold matches with NHL clubs... we are interested in NHL clubs with many Russian stars," Morozov said in the interview. "But NHL clubs have their own plans. Their season starts late — in October. We have postponed these conversations now."
The KHL season starts on Friday.
Interleague games have taken place before, with the NHL and KHL seeing their teams face off three times. The last of these games was on Oct. 4, 2010, when SKA St. Petersburgh faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game. SKA won 5-3.
Washington was also reportedly in talks to be playing in exhibition games in Moscow as part of the NHL's Global Series, though those talks fell through due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Global hockey in Russia has also hit a wall amid the country's invasion of Ukraine last February, as Russia and Belarus have been banned from international hockey competitions, while the NHL has also delayed the World Cup of Hockey due to the ongoing situation and is still debating the status of Russian players for that tournament.