While Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin announced earlier this month he would be coming back for at least one more season, it is still uncertain if this will indeed be his last season in the NHL.
But if it does turn out to be his final tour of the circuit, the NHL’s schedule release on Thursday gave a glimpse of what the road would look like.
While Washington’s last home game in 2025-26 was against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a question of it would be Ovechkin’s last game at Capital One Arena – which turned out to be premature – they open their home slate against those slate against the same Pens on October 7th.
The Capitals open their season October 2 at the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, then head to play John Carlson and the Tampa Bay Lightning the next night before heading home for the opener against Pittsburgh.
Should this turn out to be Ovechkin’s last season, the regular season ends with a three-game road trip, with the 42nd and last regular-season home game coming against Pittsburgh in what again could be his last home game pending Washington’s playoff status. The final regular-season game is scheduled for Saturday, April 10 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Ovechkin’s last game in Canada would be the second-to-last game of the regular season in Ottawa on April 8, the last scheduled visit to Toronto would be March 28; Madison Square Garden would be March 21; and Pittsburgh would be March 13.
Some familiar elements are in this year’s Capitals schedule, with the traditional Thanksgiving Eve and Black Friday home games, this year against the Flyers on Wednesday and the Florida Panthers on Friday. Super Bowl Sunday returns this season as well, as Washington hosts the Utah Mammoth on February 14 after last year being dark due to the Olympic break.
Washington’s longest road trip comes in early December, with a six-game trek across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, with Colorado and Dallas to boot. The Capitals have a pair of five-game homestands, one coming in October and the other in February.
While Washington begins the season with a two-game road trip, they have 8 of 12 games at home in October, but just 2 of 6 at home in the season’s last stretch.
Notably, this is also the first season Washington will have 42 home games, as while this is the third season in NHL history with 84 regular-season games, the previous two featured neutral-site games making up four games on the schedule.
Every team plays divisional foes four times, split with two home and road games. Non-divisional conference foes get three games each, while Western Conference foes still have one game at each venue, meaning should this be Ovechkin’s last season, every arena in the NHL will see a potential farewell game, if he is in the lineup.
The Capitals had announced earlier their four-game preseason slate, with one of their home games being played in Hershey against the Philadelphia Flyers on September 21, and the lone home game in Washington being September 25 against the Boston Bruins. They will also reciprocate and visit Boston on September 20 and Philadelphia on September 26 to close out the schedule.
So, while this may or may not be Ovechkin’s farewell season, if it is, we have an idea of how it will unfold.
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