Hockey great Alexander Ovechkin has announced his retirement after over 20 years in the NHL. NPR's A Martinez talks to The Athletic's Barry Svrluga about the superstar's legacy and controversies.

Transcript

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Hockey superstar Alexander Ovechkin will leave the NHL at the end of this season. The 41-year-old Russian's announcement comes exactly 21 years after his debut for the Washington Capitals. Now, Ovechkin would eventually break the all-time goal scoring record set by Wayne Gretzky. Here's that moment on the Monumental Sports Network.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: The chasing days are done. Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL.

MARTÍNEZ: The only one to score over 900 goals. For more about Ovechkin's career, we called up Barry Svrluga about that. He's a columnist for The Athletic. So, Barry, where would Ovechkin rank in the pantheon of great hockey players?

BARRY SVRLUGA: Well, certainly among goal scorers he has no peer. He passed Gretzky in April 2025 at the age of 39. Lots of talk about, what's his all-around game like? Was he as good as Gretzky as a passer? Certainly not. But he's an instant Hall of Famer and really a legend in Washington because he's played his whole career right here.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And he might have a chance to pass Lemieux in points, in total points, goals and assists, maybe ninth by the end of his career.

SVRLUGA: Yeah, it's possible for sure. He's about to become the Capital's all-time leader in assists. He's only four away from that. There's really no mark in terms of goal scoring that he doesn't have. He has 20 30-goal seasons. That's more than anybody - 929 total goals. He's just been a machine for a career that spans back to a time when the league was coming out of a lockout and really needed stars, young stars. He and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby the top two to lift them out of a - into a new era.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, one thing that we found out lately is that Ovechkin supports Russian President Vladimir Putin, even appearing in a pro Putin campaign ad. And that has led to some criticism in the U.S. Do you think this maybe rises above the typical disagreements about the role of politics in sports?

SVRLUGA: Well, it's interesting because actually, Ovechkin's support of Putin has been overt for a long time, dating - his Instagram avatar has long been a picture of him and Putin. He created a social media movement in 2017 ahead of the Russian presidential elections, a hashtag, #TeamPutin - or #PutinTeam. So this is really nothing new. What kind of makes it controversial headed into his last year was the fact that he appeared in an ad in September for Putin's United Russia party. That kind of freshened up the news and brought some new criticism for an issue that he's really been very open about for years.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, the Capitals are supposed to be pretty good this season, Barry. Do you think his farewell tour, if there is going to be one, might be a distraction for the Caps?

SVRLUGA: You know, I think that's something that Ovechkin wrestled with. He doesn't really want to go into every rink for the last time and be handed a gold watch or a rocking chair, that kind of stuff. This team really does have the biggest goals. I mean, they won the Stanley Cup in 2018. That kind of cemented Ovechkin's legacy in the sport and in the town. This is probably their best roster since then. So it'll be interesting to see how they balance the individual honors and homages that he's going to get with what the team goals are, which is to win the whole thing.

MARTÍNEZ: Has he played for Russia recently? Or is there maybe a chance he can play for Russia at one point?

SVRLUGA: I mean, Russia was not allowed in the Olympics...

MARTÍNEZ: OK.

SVRLUGA: ...This last time around. So that was a big miss on his resume. He had played for them in 2006 and 2010, with no medals, disappointingly.

MARTÍNEZ: Ovechkin, Messi. They're all retiring. Barry Svrluga of The Athletic, thank you very much.

SVRLUGA: Appreciate you having me.

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JUICY J: (Rapping) Bands a make her dance, bands a make her dance.

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