Last year at this time, all eyes were on Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and his chase of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s long-standing goal-scoring record to become the NHL’s most prolific scorer of all time. He ended up surpassing the Great One in April against the New York Islanders on Long Island.
Washington went on to win the Metropolitan Division and advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before being eliminated by their division rivals, the Carolina Hurricanes, in five games. That loss moved Ovechkin one year closer to retirement. Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet made some bold predictions for 2026, and one of them surrounded Ovechkin, and it is a bold one.