With Alex Ovechkin retiring, Steven Stamkos explains what made Capitals' star great

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, announced that the 2026-27 season will be his last in the NHL, making the decision public to his Washington Capitals teammates on Oct. 5.

Two seasons ago, he passed Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goals record, then he became the league’s first 900-goal scorer last November.

The news of Ovechkin’s retirement broke as the Nashville Predators were finishing up practice at Centennial Ice Rink. Steven Stamkos, who crossed the 600-goal mark on Dec. 31 of last season, reacted to the news with high praise, recalling the many times he and his former teammates with the Tampa Bay Lightning faced the Capitals in the playoffs.

“People don’t appreciate how amazing (Ovechkin) was in his prime,” Stamkos said. “They see him now, and obviously he can still score, but in his prime he was almost unstoppable. Like, physically unstoppable. The skating, the puck-handling, the shooting, the physicality. It was impressive, he was a force.”

Ovechkin’s first NHL season came in 2005-06, over a year after he was drafted No. 1 overall at the 2004 NHL Draft. The NHL’s lockout in 2004-05 delayed Ovechkin’s arrival, but it was worth the wait: He scored 52 goals as a 20-year-old, winning the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) easily as a 20-year-old.

Over the next 10 seasons, Ovechkin scored 50-plus goals in a season seven times, won the Rocket Richard Trophy (league’s top goal scorer) six times, and became a 500-goal scorer by the time he was 30 years old.

Those accomplishments alone would be Hall of Fame worthy, according to Stamkos.

“The generation that he came in, where goal scoring was at a premium and with how hard it was to score goals for the majority of the first half of his career… it just makes it even more impressive,” Stamkos said.

Stamkos’ first season came in 2008-09 and he immediately challenged Ovechkin for the annual goal-scoring race. In 2011, Stamkos finished with 51 goals, one more than Ovechkin’s 50, to win the first of his two goal-scoring titles.

Both Stamkos and Ovechkin are prolific goal-scorers, but Stamkos thinks no one possesses a shot quite like Ovechkin.

“Goalies didn’t know where (the puck) was going,” Stamkos said of Ovechkin’s shot. “He has that big curve (on his stick blade), I bet you sometimes he didn’t know where it was going. But it just got off his stick so quick that it was so hard to stop. His release, plus he’s so big and strong and generates a lot of force in his shot… it just came off his stick like no one else.”

The Capitals are scheduled to play the Predators twice this season, once at Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 29 and once in Washington on Feb. 21.

“I’m pretty lucky to have played against him for all of my career and the majority of his,” Stamkos said. “The longevity, the consistency, the health… it’s pretty rare.”

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com, follow him on X at@alexdaugherty1 or check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: With Alex Ovechkin retiring, Steven Stamkos explains what made Capitals’ star great