Ovechkin signs 5-year, $47.5M contract with Capitals
Alex Ovechkin isn't going anywhere.
The Washington Capitals legend signed a five-year contract worth $47.5 million ($9.5-million average annual value) on Tuesday, the team announced.
"Alex is the face of our franchise and is committed to this organization and this city," said general manager Brian MacLellan. "Alex embodies what our franchise is all about, and we're thrilled that he will continue his career in the Caps uniform for the next five years."
Ovechkin's mammoth 13-year, $124-million contract he signed in 2008 expired after the 2020-21 season. He was a pending unrestricted free agent but said on numerous occasions he didn't want to play anywhere but Washington, with the exception being the KHL's Dynamo Moscow once his NHL days are numbered.
Ovi's new deal takes him to his age-40 season, and, as a result, Wayne Gretzky's goal record is in play. Ovechkin sits sixth on the all-time list, 164 tallies back of Gretzky's record.
Ovechkin needs to average 33 goals - a total he's failed to hit only twice in a regular 82-game schedule - per season over the duration of his new deal to break the record he's been linked to for most of his career.
Lingering injuries affected Ovechkin in 2020-21, but he still managed 42 points in 45 contests. For his career, he's notched 730 goals and 590 helpers in 1,197 games to go with a Stanley Cup, three MVPs, a Calder Trophy, and nine Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies.
Washington drafted him first overall in 2004.