Let's Talk About Alex Ovechkin

The Capitals captain has just two goals through the first 12 games of the year. A dive into what's going on.

ARLINGTON, V.A. — This wasn’t how Alex Ovechkin had his 21st NHL season starting off.

With the weight of Wayne Gretzky’s record no longer on his shoulders, and sitting just three goals away from another milestone of 900 in his career, it was supposed to be a fun start to what could be his final go in the NHL. Instead, it’s been difficult.

The 40-year-old has struggled to get up to full speed to open the 2025-26 season. Through 12 games this season, he has just two goals, both coming right off face-off wins from Dylan Strome.

So, let’s talk about what’s going on.

First, Ovechkin is struggling to get into the swing of things at 5-on-5. His Corsi-for percentage of 53.71 ranks fourth-worst among forwards, and his high-danger Corsi-for percentage of 58.70 doesn’t rank too high, either.

Looking at his play, he’s struggled to carry the puck up ice, and while he’s getting in good positions, he’s not finding a lot of opportunities to get high-quality shots off.

Ovechkin is currently averaging 18:05 minutes per game, 23 seconds more on average than last season, and has played on a number of different lines with Strome, Connor McMichael and Hendirx Lapierre. However, the spark just isn’t there, and the advanced statistics show a decline in his possession metrics and finishing ability.

“I don’t think they’re going in for him right now. Could he generate a little bit more? Does he need a few to fall to maybe get him feeling a lot better with the hockey puck? Yeah, I think that’s fair,” coach Spencer Carbery said.

On the power play, things get even tougher. As the greatest goal scorer of all time, and with his shot still in top form when he gets the time and space, Ovechkin is still leading all skaters in power-play ice time with 63:46 total minutes played so far. However, he ranks among forwards with at least seven games played with a 78.95 shots-for percentage and 87 Corsi-for percentage.

This isn’t the first time Ovechkin has struggled to open a season; just look at 2023-24, when he had eight goals through the first 43 games of the year and returned from the All-Star Break to finish with another 30-goal campaign.

It also didn’t help that he also missed a good part of training camp with a lower body injury suffered on Day 1, which Carbery also attributed to his taking more time to get back up to speed.

“I’m not going to dispute that missing camp is a hindrance for a 40-year-old in the NHL, like that’s impossible for me to argue against,” Carbery added. “There’s no doubt that him missing as much time in training camp is not a positive, it’s a negative when you’re preparing for the NHL season.”

So with enough time, Ovechkin can perhaps recapture that spark. After all, that vision and goal-scoring prowess doesn’t just disappear.

But what if history doesn’t repeat itself?

Right now, Ovechkin’s in an interesting spot. While he sits at 899 goals and surely wants to hit 900, a feat no other player has accomplished in the regular season, the captain doesn’t need to go out and prove anything — and he’s more than earned that and the respect to finish his career in the fashion he wants to while still getting his chances.

At the same time, though, he certainly wants another run at the Stanley Cup, and his Capitals need to find scoring one way or another to break out of their recent struggles, which all lead back to the waning offense.

That being said, Ovechkin’s role could very well start to shift, and it may be beneficial for D.C. as it starts to inch closer to the post-Ovechkin era.