Alex Ovechkin has said goodbye to a lot of things over 22 seasons in Washington. On Tuesday night, he started saying goodbye to everyone else.
The Washington Capitals captain, who announced last week that the 2026-27 season will be his last in the NHL, played his final regular-season game at Lenovo Center when the Capitals visited the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first stop of a farewell tour that will wind through opposing arenas across North America until April, and even the people traveling with him were not sure what to expect.
“This will be our first crack at it and kind of see what teams [do],” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after Monday’s practice. “I’m sure we’re going to get the full gauntlet of it and see how different teams handle it differently. This will be new for us as well.”
What the Hurricanes had planned, nobody knew
Carbery would not guess whether Carolina had a ceremony in store. He did not want to “put Carolina in a bad spot” by assuming anything concrete, he said, though he expected something.
“I would assume there’s some type of reception for him, whether it’s a video or post-game,” Carbery said. “I’m not really sure. This will be the last time he’s going to walk off the ice in Lenovo. It’ll be the last time he walks off as an NHL player.”
Dylan Strome, Ovechkin’s longtime linemate, figured the timing might keep things restrained. The matchup came just six games into Washington’s schedule, and Ovechkin will not make another “last visit” until the Capitals reach Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on October 29.
“As a team, it’s hard to say because it’s so early on in the season that I’m not sure how big of a reception or ceremony it’s going to be,” Strome said. “Obviously, he deserves it.”
Still, Strome expected Raleigh to do something. Ovechkin has tortured the Hurricanes for two decades, and the building knows it.
“I feel like it might be a little bit tapered down tomorrow per se, but he’s played so many games in Carolina that I think they’ll give him somewhat of a send-off, I’m sure,” Strome said. “And I guess then it’s up to how the crowd reacts. I think that’s something that we can’t really control. If it happens, I think that it’s well-deserved and well-warranted.”
No team has felt Ovechkin’s shot more often
The numbers explain why Carolina’s building matters on this tour. Across 97 games against the Hurricanes, Ovechkin has recorded 111 points, 53 goals and 58 assists, more than he has managed against any other NHL franchise. Only two opponents have surrendered more career goals to him: the Winnipeg Jets (58) and the Philadelphia Flyers (54).
There was also a practical reason for the Capitals to keep the night from turning into a full-blown ceremony. As Strome pointed out, the Hurricanes are the defending Stanley Cup champions and one of the league’s top teams, and Washington could see them again in Raleigh come spring, depending on how the playoff bracket sets up.
“There’s a good chance we’ll see them in the playoffs at some point, I hope, with how good they are,” Strome said. “So we’ll see what happens, but I think we’ll just adjust to either one.”
The Capitals have been here before
Plenty of players in Washington’s room have lived through a version of this already. During Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record in 2024-25, opposing arenas erupted whenever he touched the puck, sometimes while he was still dozens of goals away from the mark. Once he passed Gretzky, even Penguins fans in Pittsburgh cheered him.
“I think we got used to it, obviously, a couple years ago in that chase,” Strome said. “I do think it’s similar to that where he’s still like 30 goals away at certain times and the rink was still kind of buzzing and going crazy. I think it would be similar to that, where it’s still going to be electric, and I think there’s going to be people giving him the reception he deserves there.”
After Carolina, the tour keeps rolling. The Capitals do not visit another division rival’s building for a final regular-season game until January 24, when they face the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. By the club’s count, the tour includes two stops in October, two in November, six in December, six in January, three in February, nine in March and four in April, capped by his last regular-season home game at Capital One Arena.
A home opener his sons will remember
The tour’s emotional tone was set earlier in the week in Washington. In the last home opener of Ovechkin’s career, his two sons, Ilya and Sergei, took the microphone to announce their father during player introductions before a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I was talking to one of my kids about it before that, and he was nervous as well,” Ovechkin said. “I said don’t be nervous, just say it. And it was pretty cool.”
The 41-year-old said he hopes the season brings “awesome memories.” It will also ask something new of him. Ovechkin went without a point in the opener, took only three shifts in the third period and was not on the ice for the empty-net situation at the end, even with Washington protecting a two-goal lead. His role is shifting to a complementary one as the Capitals build for life after him.
“I’m not going to say [Ovechkin] doesn’t want to be out there, but he is also understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish as a team and the great players that he has around him,” Carbery said. “Anytime I explain, here’s why we’re doing it, and here’s the reason behind it, and here’s why this is going to help our team, he’s like, ‘I’m all in.'”
Longtime teammate Tom Wilson called it chills-inducing.
“It’s been such an incredible journey. It’s cool to see his kids down there and have them coming out on the ice and obviously he’s a legend of the city,” Wilson said. “So I think everyone had a big smile, you get chills watching him come out. You just got to try and soak it all in.”
Gretzky sees the value in doing it differently
Wayne Gretzky handled his own exit the opposite way, keeping his 1998-99 retirement quiet until word leaked before his second-to-last game in Ottawa, ahead of his final night at Madison Square Garden. He told The Athletic this week that he stayed silent because he did not want a tour and did not want to “offset the games for the guys.”
Ovechkin’s approach, Gretzky said, works too.
“But you know for Alex, every city is an event, you know? Because you only go there once or twice,” Gretzky said. “So it’s a big event for him coming to town. So him announcing it isn’t going to change all that. Except now people will realize if they have a ticket for a Capitals game in January, they could sell it for 10 times the money.”
He called the tour great for the NHL and admitted he had suspected this season would be Ovechkin’s last. “It’s hard when you get over the age of 38,” Gretzky said, invoking Gordie Howe and Chris Chelios as the rare exceptions. He expects Sidney Crosby, 39, to keep going at least another year, and to get his own farewell tour.
“Sid is playing as well as I’ve ever seen him play,” Gretzky said.
One more chapter of Crosby vs Ovechkin
The Penguins game carried its own weight. It was the 101st meeting between Ovechkin and Crosby, including 25 playoff games, and their teams have met in four postseason series, with the winner going on to hoist the Stanley Cup every time: Pittsburgh in 2009, 2016 and 2017, Washington in 2018.
Both captains have now joined Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Stan Mikita and Steve Yzerman as the only players in NHL history to spend 22 seasons with one franchise. Their first matchup came on November 22, 2005, before three players in that night’s lineups, Pittsburgh’s Ben Kindel and Washington’s Cole Hutson and Ilya Protas, were even born.
The night was rougher for Crosby, who finished a minus-4, his worst single-game plus/minus against the Capitals in his career. The rivalry has softened into friendship over the years; Crosby and Evgeni Malkin gave Ovechkin a watch after he broke Gretzky’s record last season, and the two captains posed for a photo during warmups. Ovechkin, a noted memorabilia collector, said he plans an equipment swap with Crosby at some point this season.
“I will think about it and me and him are going to text, what he wants and what I want,” Ovechkin said. “But for sure I’ll keep something from him.”
First, though, there is a tour to run. Raleigh was stop one, Nashville comes on October 29, and the Capitals will spend the season learning, arena by arena, exactly what these nights look like. Their coach’s plan for that is simple: watch, adapt, and let the captain take the applause.
FAQ
When did Alex Ovechkin's farewell tour begin?
The tour began on Tuesday night, October 13, 2026, when the Washington Capitals visited the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. It was Ovechkin’s final regular-season game in that building.
How has Ovechkin performed against the Hurricanes?
Carolina is the franchise Ovechkin has produced the most points against: 111 points (53 goals, 58 assists) in 97 games. Only the Winnipeg Jets (58 goals) and Philadelphia Flyers (54) have allowed more career goals to him.
When is Ovechkin's next farewell tour stop?
The Capitals visit Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on October 29, 2026. Their next final visit to a division rival’s building comes on January 24, 2027, at the New Jersey Devils’ Prudential Center.
Why did Wayne Gretzky not have a farewell tour?
Gretzky kept his 1998-99 retirement secret until it leaked before his second-to-last game in Ottawa. He told The Athletic he did not want a tour and did not want to offset the games for his teammates, but he said Ovechkin’s announced tour will be great for the NHL.