‘Pretty darn impressive’: Ovechkin still wowing teammates amid uncertain future

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2 days ago

October 14, 2025

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Greg WyshynskiOct 14, 2025, 07:05 AM ET
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ARLINGTON, Va. — Last season, Alex Ovechkin passed Wayne Gretzky to become the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. A few weeks ago during training camp, he reached another historic milestone: The Washington Capitals captain turned 40.

“Nothing’s changed. Just a different number,” Ovechkin said.

Someone asked Tom Wilson if his linemate had informed him about what 40 feels like.

“I told them that I didn’t need to ask, because I will not be playing hockey when I’m 40,” Wilson said with a laugh. “It’s so impressive. I’m 31 and it’s hard. [Hockey] takes a toll on the body. We all just play as long as we can. I don’t think anybody in that room will be talking about playing when they’re 40, let alone scoring 44 goals and having a broken leg and all that stuff last year. He’s a machine.”

Ovechkin entered the 2025-26 season with 897 career goals, having surpassed Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals. He scored 44 goals in 65 games last season, sitting out 16 games after breaking his left fibula in a Nov. 18 game against the Utah Hockey Club.

“He’s the GOAT. He’s still flying out there. It’s so pretty darn impressive,” Wilson said. “He can just keep playing and scoring. His mentality and his physical perseverance to just keep going and do what he’s doing is … I mean, there’s really no words to describe it.”

Here’s one word to possibly describe it: unexpected.

Ovechkin finished the 2023-24 season with a whimper that had many wondering if his tank had hit empty. He didn’t register a point when the Capitals were swept by the New York Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs, going without a shot on goal in two of the games.

But Ovechkin answered that uncertainty by expediting his record chase and passing Gretzky on April 6 at the New York Islanders. In the process, he fueled a 111-point Washington season — a 20-point improvement over 2023-24 — that saw the Capitals advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018.

“The goal chase last year energized our team. It helped us get through the dog days a bit. It was such a cool moment for the whole organization,” Capitals GM Chris Patrick said. “But I think Alex has always been team first. I think the way he’s handling this season just shows that he’s a team-first guy.”

FROM THE MOMENT Ovechkin arrived at Capitals training camp, there was speculation about this season being his last. He’s in the final year of a five-year contract extension he signed in July 2021. He broke Gretzky’s record. He hit the big 4-0. But Ovechkin was noncommittal about his future before the season.

“I don’t know if this is going to be the last. We’ll see,” he said at training camp.

Then, asked again on the eve of the Capitals’ first game: “I don’t know. I take it day by day, you know? You have to have fun. Enjoy yourself. Do the best that you can.”

Ovechkin hasn’t made up his mind. The Capitals say they don’t know which waywhere he’s leaning. They’re happy to give him the time he needs to figure it out.

“I want him to have the space. To have this season go how he wants it to go,” Patrick said. “If he wants to talk, we’ll talk. If not, we’ll figure it out later.”

Ovechkin deferred to Patrick when asked if there was a deadline of sorts this season in which he’d have to inform the Capitals about his future. “I don’t know. You should talk to him, not me. This is the time of the year when you just have to get ready emotionally and get ready physically. We’ll see how it goes,” he said.

Undoubtedly, a preseason announcement about this being Ovechkin’s retirement tour would have put the focus on him rather than his teammates for a second straight season.

“Definitely. It would bring that element to arenas, especially in the Western Conference where it would be the last time he ever goes into those arenas,” coach Spencer Carbery said.

Ovechkin said he welcomes a season without something like the Gretzky goals record chase overshadowing everything else. “You just get tired to hear, ‘When it’s going to happen, how you’re going to do it?'” he said. “Right now, we just focusing on the different things.”

One reason Ovechkin might stick around beyond this season is the Capitals’ resurgence. When he re-signed with Washington in 2021, it was with the understanding that the team wouldn’t go into a rebuild with him on the roster. Surrounding him with talent would keep him happy and support his pursuit of Gretzky’s record.

The retool around Ovechkin has produced two straight trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs and a Metropolitan Division title last season. It has been combination of solid prospect development and bold bets on trades and signings by management — hastened by the cap flexibility afforded the team as veteran Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie saw their NHL careers end — that were widely successful, such as the trades for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goalie Logan Thompson.

Under Carbery, who was hired two seasons ago, the Capitals haven’t just avoided a rebuild in Ovechkn’s twilight years. They’re a legitimate contender.

“We’ve created a standard now where we’re a team that’s expected to do well. We’ve got to make sure when teams come into our rink, we keep that expectation that it’s going to be hard playing the Capitals,” Wilson said.

Ovechkin says he appreciates that culture, and the fact that management brought back almost everyone from last season’s team.

“Yeah, I mean you go to locker room and you see the guy who was next to you from last year,” he said. “We have some additions, but they understand the culture. They understand where they’re at. I think it’s pretty good.”

Carbery says he believes it’s that joy Ovechkin feels with his teammates and playing the game that has kept him going.

“I think he loves the game. He loves to come to the rink, he loves to be around his buddies. He loves to go out and compete and try to win. I don’t think that’ll change one bit,” the coach said. “Even though he’s passed Wayne and now has the all-time goal record, I think he’ll be as hungry as ever to get to 900 and then 910 and try to help our team win games.”

CARBERY TALKS TO OVECHKIN every day.

“I won’t be, ‘Hey, do you feel good enough to play next year?’ I have a lot of conversations with him. Part of it is about him and part of it is that he’s the captain. I want to get a sense of what we need as a group. But I also check in on how he’s feeling as well,” he said. “A lot of [his decision] will have to do with how the year goes. At his age, coming back from an injury in training camp. He wants to see how he feels, mentally and physically, going through the grind. See where he’s at.”

Ovechkin’s primary motivation on the ice is bringing a second Stanley Cup championship to Washington. But as Carbery mentioned, Ovechkin still has personal milestones to hit too.

Ovechkin entered this season trailing Gretzky by 42 for the most goals scored between the regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs combined in NHL history. Gretzky has 1,016, and Ovechkin’s combined 49 goals last season gave him 974 for his career.

Ovechkin will also have a chance to set a record for most goals scored by a 40-year-old player. Gordie Howe holds that mark with 44 in the 1968-69 season. From a personal standpoint, Ovechkin is just a handful of games away from 1,500 in his career, a benchmark only 22 players in NHL history have reached.

“He’s got a couple milestones I think coming up right away and it’ll be fun to see him hit those,” Patrick said. “I’m just at a point where every time I see him play, I’m just appreciating it, because he’s 40 years old. We’re not going to have this forever. To get to witness it every night is a treat.”

Defenseman John Carlson, who also doesn’t have a contract beyond this season, said it’s been “a hell of a ride” with Ovechkin, whether or not this is his final season.

“I’m not going to get too nostalgic too early here. But, yeah, it’s been really cool to play with one of the game’s greats, and now the leading goal scorer of all time,” Carlson said. “Those are insane things that you can reflect on. Pretty special times.”

Carlson has been Ovechkin’s teammate since 2009-10. Wilson has played with him since 2013-14. Neither player has given much thought to this being their captain’s last season in the NHL.

“Not really, to be honest. I think he’s one of those guys where it doesn’t really matter. If he’s playing well and he wants to scoring goals and he wants to stick around, I’m sure they’ll figure a way to keep him around,” he said. “If he doesn’t want to play another year, then he won’t play another year.”

Perhaps Ovechkin will take inspiration with how Gretzky retired from the NHL. He also didn’t want a retirement tour. News about 1998-99 being his final season didn’t leak until very late in the season, creating hysteria around the Rangers’ April 15, 1999, game at the Ottawa Senators as Gretzky’s last stop in Canada. He would formally announce his retirement the next day in New York. Wilson understands that, in an instant, Ovechkin could also call it a career.

“No one will really think about him not being around here until it smacks us all in the face,” Wilson said. “He’s just a Capital. He comes to the rink every day and leads this group. He’s going to do that until he is done. We won’t really focus too much on that. It’s just so fun having him around.”

And so the Capitals wait as Ovechkin ponders whether if this is the season that the Russian Machine powers down.

“We respect Alex so much and everything he’s done for this organization. So when the time comes for him to make his decision on his future, he will,” Carbery said. “We don’t know what the future holds. He’s left it open. Certainly as an organization, we’re like, ‘Heck yeah, as many more years as you possibly can play.'”

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2025 ALCS: Live updates and analysis from Game 3

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5 hours ago

October 16, 2025

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2025 ALCS: Live updates and analysis from Game 3

Oct 15, 2025, 10:45 PM ET

If the Toronto Blue Jays are going to bounce back, tonight’s the night.

After Toronto lost two at home to the Seattle Mariners, the American League Championship Series heads West for Game 3.

The first matchup at T-Mobile Park isn’t an elimination game, but the stakes couldn’t be much higher. It’s essentially a must-win for the top-seeded Blue Jays; only one team in MLB history has ever come back from trailing a postseason series 3-0. Meanwhile, for the Mariners, it’s a chance to get one victory away from the first World Series appearance in franchise history.

Stay here for our coverage — from the pregame lineups to the top moments during the game to our takeaways and analysis after the final pitch.

Key links: How Vlad Jr., Jays bet on each other | LCS update | Bracket

Top moments

Follow live for pitch-by-pitch coverage

Seattle goes back-to-back in the 8th for first runs since 1st inning

Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh go back-to-back!

(MLB x @CitizenWatchUS) pic.twitter.com/sOzVyH0Cvo

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025

It’s raining homers! Alejandro Kirk‘s 3-run mash makes it 12-2

KIRK’S TURN! #WANTITALL pic.twitter.com/wv6UXOcHrU

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 16, 2025

Vlad Jr. adds own home run as Jays pile on

VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR. WITH A BLAST OF HIS OWN! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/cSLgLywe1V

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025

Daulton Varsho‘s 2-RBI double caps off 5-run inning for Toronto

Daulton Varsho makes it a 5-run inning for the @BlueJays! pic.twitter.com/lbrDBbr4ei

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025

Blue Jays answer with their own blast — and now we’re tied

Andrés Giménez ties the game! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/drtdQh8gQ1

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025

J-Rod hits 2-run home run to give M’s early lead

JULIO RODRÍGUEZ 2-RUN BLAST! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/olXcF7mzh4

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025

Josh Naylor rocking a vintage KD jersey ahead of Game 3

Good luck @Mariners…good throwback Josh https://t.co/26FrDN4UNO

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) October 15, 2025

Lineups

Seattle leads series 2-0

Starting pitchers: Shane Bieber vs. George Kirby

Toronto

1. George Springer (R) DH
2. Nathan Lukes (L) LF
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
4. Anthony Santander (S) RF
5. Alejandro Kirk (R) C
6. Daulton Varsho (L) CF
7. Addison Barger (L) 3B
8. Ernie Clement (R) 2B
9. Andres Gimenez (L) SS

Seattle

1. Randy Arozarena (R) LF
2. Cal Raleigh (S) C
3. Julio Rodriguez (R) CF
4. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B
5. Josh Naylor (L) 1B
6. Eugenio Suarez (R) 3B
7. Dominic Canzone (L) DH
8. Victor Robles (R) RF
9. J.P. Crawford (L) SS

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How Vlad Jr. and the Blue Jays bet on each other — and won

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8 hours ago

October 16, 2025

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How Vlad Jr. and the Blue Jays bet on each other -- and won

Jorge CastilloOct 15, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
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SIX MONTHS AGO, just seven games into the 2025 season, the Toronto Blue Jays arrived in Queens with uncertainty hovering over Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s future. New York Mets fans, hopeful that their team could eventually land the impending free agent and partner him with Juan Soto, welcomed the first baseman with notably loud cheers at Citi Field to open the weekend series. Guerrero and the Blue Jays had failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension before an arbitrary mid-February deadline, and the drama would not die.

Then, suddenly, it did, hours after the Mets completed a weekend sweep. The deal was historic: 14 years, $500 million without deferrals, the third-largest contract in Major League Baseball history. The Canadian-born Guerrero, signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old with a famous name, would be a Blue Jay for life. Guerrero bet on himself by turning down smaller offers and bet on the Blue Jays by agreeing not to test free agency. And the Blue Jays bet on the homegrown star at a massive price, having whiffed on other marquee talents in recent years. The impact was instant.

“We didn’t start playing our best baseball until May,” Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer said. “But if that didn’t get settled, it would be this cloud hanging over our season the whole time. The fact that that was resolved just kind of settled everything down. The outside attention is resolved. It’s no longer, ‘What’s going to happen here?’ It kind of took the elephant out of the room.”

Guerrero, 26, responded with his fifth All-Star season, batting .292 with 23 home runs and an .848 OPS in 156 games. His play, coupled with rebound seasons from George Springer and Bo Bichette and a deep roster of contributors, fueled the Blue Jays’ ascension from 74 wins and last place in 2024 to 94 wins, an American League East title and, now, Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

The Blue Jays can point to a few possible turning points on their way to a fourth playoff appearance in six years. There was a three-game sweep in Seattle in early May. There was Bichette’s pinch-hit, go-ahead home run in the ninth inning in Texas later that month. But Guerrero’s agreement a week into the season helped pave the way to where the Blue Jays find themselves Wednesday: four wins shy of their first World Series appearance in 32 years.

Down 2-0 after the Mariners dominated the first two games in Toronto, it’s no easy feat. But the goal Guerrero has set for himself hasn’t changed.

“For me my goal always is to win a World Series, to bring the World Series here,” Guerrero said earlier this postseason. “My father, he never had the chance to win a World Series. That’s one of my goals, always been one of my goals, to do that for me, for him.”

THE JOURNEY TO this breakout postseason for Guerrero and the Blue Jays began more than a decade ago. In January 2015, months before Guerrero was eligible to sign as an international free agent, Edwin Encarnación received a call from Alex Anthopoulos, then Toronto’s general manager: The Blue Jays wanted to see a 15-year-old Guerrero, their top target that year, work out again in the Dominican Republic — and they needed to find a ballpark.

Encarnación, coming off an All-Star season for Toronto in 2014, reached out to his contacts and a workout was arranged to have Guerrero face older free agents from Cuba. With Encarnación and Blue Jays officials, including Anthopoulos and international scouting director Ismael Cruz looking on, Guerrero convinced the decision-makers.

“It was something special,” Encarnación said in Spanish on the field at Rogers Centre on Monday before Game 2 of the ALCS. “Vladdy was better than the Cubans. This kid, at 15 years old, showed off against them. He was special.”

That July, the Blue Jays used their entire international bonus pool to sign Guerrero for $3.9 million. Worried about the hoopla that came with being the son of a future Hall of Famer, Anthopoulos asked the team’s media department to hold a low-key event when Guerrero, born in Montreal during his father’s time starring for the Expos, was brought to Toronto for the first time. No news conference at the podium. Just batting practice on the field.

“I was concerned with the last name, the hype and the expectations were going to be out of this world,” said Anthopoulos, now general manager of the Atlanta Braves. “And they were anyway, as much as we tried to play it down.”

Guerrero was not immune to the pressure upon arriving for his major league debut in 2019 as the top prospect across baseball at just 20 years old. The years that followed were not a linear progression. After an AL MVP runner-up season in which he clubbed 48 home runs with a 1.002 OPS in 2021, his first year as a full-time first baseman, Guerrero hit 58 home runs with an .804 OPS over the next two years. Then came another breakout last season: a .323/.396/.544 slash line with 30 home runs in 159 games to raise his value heading into his platform year.

“He’s not easily distracted,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. “He’s still very human, and I think the hardest part, from my perspective and my view, that Vladdy’s had to deal with is the expectation. Not the distractions off the field or the attention. And he embraced the expectations.”

This year, the pressure was on Guerrero to finally perform to those expectations in the postseason. He entered the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees 3-for-22 with two walks, five strikeouts and no home runs in six career playoff games — all losses — spread over three separate wild-card series.

Guerrero quickly discarded that history in Game 1, swatting a solo home run in his first plate appearance of the postseason. In Game 2, he cracked a grand slam that will long be replayed on Rogers Centre highlight reels. He finished the series 9-for-17 with three home runs and nine RBIs as the Blue Jays eliminated New York in four games.

“I think he’s improved a lot in all aspects,” Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk said. “The experience, how he’s matured as a person. He’s no longer the 20-year-old Vladimir when he debuted. Now he’s Vladimir.”

VLADIMIR VASQUEZ WATCHED the Blue Jays close out the Yankees last Wednesday from his restaurant 5 miles north of Rogers Centre. Born in the Dominican Republic, Vasquez moved to Toronto when he was 11 years old in 1990 and quickly became a fan of the early-’90s Blue Jays championship teams. He opened Cabacoa, a Dominican restaurant, a year-and-a-half ago — a sign of the city’s growing Dominican community.

“I’ve been following Vladimir Guerrero Jr. since he was in the minors,” Vasquez said. “It’s funny because his dad was the only older Dominican Vladimir I knew growing up. But it’s important for the community, for the Dominican community, to have somebody who’s that good who’s going to be here long term.”

It’s part of the responsibility Guerrero shoulders beyond playing first base and batting third. He’s the only Canadian citizen on Canada’s only MLB team. His No. 27 jersey is the one Blue Jays fans wear from British Columbia to Newfoundland. He’s the player the Blue Jays committed to as their cornerstone through his age-40 season in 2039 — 20 years after his debut — with hopes he’ll end up with his own Hall of Fame career.

“I look at Vladdy long term because I’ve gotten to play with the greats,” said Scherzer, an 18-year veteran and three-time Cy Young Award winner. “I’ve gotten to play with so many great, different players over my career. For me, he kind of fits this Prince Fielder-Miguel Cabrera mold. He’s kind of a hybrid between those two.”

In the short term, the agreement was an exhale. Perhaps, as Atkins said he’d like to think, the Blue Jays would’ve found their footing without Guerrero signing the extension. The pieces were in place two years removed from an 89-win season. But that variable, which had lingered from the day Guerrero reported for spring training, was removed.

Six months later, the Blue Jays, behind their franchise pillar, are breaking through.

“I think it kind of showed our fan base and the league kind of what we’re trying to do here short and long term,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “And it just kind of clears a little bit of a cloud around a really good player and allows the team to say, ‘OK, this is our guy, this is what we’re going to do.’ I think it kind of freed everyone up.”