Alex Ovechkin has revealed that his new one-year contract with the Washington Capitals was put together extremely fast after he decided to return for a 22nd NHL season. 

Ovechkin signed the deal on July 2 after talking about retirement for months. He made a quick call with general manager Chris Patrick last week while vacationing in Turkey.

"I think it took us maybe 10 minutes," Ovechkin said (via Tarik El-Bashir on X). "I called Chris (Patrick) and said, 'Okay, let's make a deal.' He said What's going to happen with the signing bonus, with the other bonus, and I said, 'Okay, let's go.'"

This decision came right after a difficult 2025-26 season for Ovechkin, as Washington missed the playoffs and traded away the longtime teammates John Carlson and Nic Dowd. Ovechkin said he needed time with his family before committing to play another year.

Ovechkin has negotiated three of his four NHL contracts, including the 13-year-deal in 2008, the five-year renewal in 2021, and the newest one, without an agent. There was very little back-and-forth between the parties, since both sides already understood the salary cap situation. 

The contract pays Ovechkin a $1 million salary plus a $3.25 million signing bonus, with $4.75 million more if he plays at least 10 games next season. 

That adds up to $9 million in total, though the deal carries a cap hit of just $4.25 million. The upcoming season will be Ovechkin's 22nd season with Washington, which marks him as the longest-tenured athlete in team history.

Ovechkin’s wife supported him in extending with the Capitals

This year, the Capitals used trades to add two forwards, Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch, then went on to sign Boone Jenner and Vincent Desharnais in free agency. All these moves left very little room to spare before turning to Ovechkin.

Performance bonuses can still push the team over its salary cap's upper limit. Any kind of overage from Ovechkin's deal would be passed on to next season's cap instead of this one.

But technicalities aside, he credited his wife for backing him to continue playing for "one more year, or maybe two years, I don't know." (via AP News)

With Ovechkin still very uncertain about playing beyond this coming season, this gives the Capitals the ability and the time to work around his bonuses without disrupting the rest of the roster.

Washington's roster now has about 11 players, and Ovechkin is still among them. He led the team in both goals (32) and points (64) last season without missing a game.

This was all while turning 40, and he said the new additions to the squad made it easier to commit to playing another year. 

"When you look at our roster, it's a Stanley Cup contender," he said.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Yash Kotak