ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin said he wants a new two-year contract from the Washington Capitals.
He was probably joking.
Then again, nothing about Ovechkin's future is all that clear right now after the NHL's career goal-scoring leader finished his 21st season Tuesday. Fans — and even opponents — treated the past few games like they could be his last, but Ovechkin hasn't yet closed the door on returning.
This was the final season of his current contract with the Capitals. When he noted Thursday — in a longer-than-usual session with reporters — that he still needs to speak with coach Spencer Carbery and general manager Chris Patrick, he was asked what he wanted to hear from Patrick about the team's future.
“Two more years," he said, drawing a laugh. "This is the contract. Sign it.”
It would certainly be a surprise if the 40-year-old Ovechkin received that kind of deal. The bigger question is whether he'll keep playing in the NHL at all. He said he'll make that decision based on health, family and the team's outlook for next season.
The Capitals wrapped up their season with a win at Columbus on Tuesday. They had 95 points, which would have tied for the lead in the Pacific Division but left them three points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Young players like Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson have emerged for Washington, and despite a disappointing season, the team seems decently positioned whether Ovechkin retires or comes back.
If he does return, the price would be intriguing after he carried a cap hit of $9.5 million a year on his previous deal. He scored a team-high 32 goals and played all 82 games this season, remarkable numbers for a player his age. But his famous shot from the left circle wasn't the weapon it used to be — he had only five goals on 86 shots on the power play — and his age shows in his two-way game.
Ovechkin was asked if playing elsewhere in the NHL was a possibility.
“I’m a free agent," he said.
When pressed on whether he could see himself somewhere else in the league after spending his whole career so far with the Capitals, he said: “Probably not, no.”
There's been speculation about Ovechkin going back at some point to play in his native Russia, but he said he needs to decide his NHL future first.
“I’m pretty sure it’s not my last game — I hope it’s not my last game, against Columbus. I have to make a decision to see where we’re at — the team, family," Ovechkin said. “Obviously, family are going to support me, like my wife and kids. Kids are already asking, ‘Dad, are you staying or not?’"
And what's his response?
“I tell them, ‘We’ll see,'” he said. ”They want me to come back because they love the city, they love the team, they love the boys.”
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Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) acknowledges fans as he leaves the ice after the Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a rising star in the Democratic party before his career was derailed by sexual assault allegations several years ago, killed his wife before killing himself, police said Thursday.
Fairfax, 47, and his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, 49, were found dead at their northern Virginia home in Annandale after the couple’s teenage son called 911 shortly after midnight, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
The couple were separated and going through a divorce but living in the same house with their two children, who were home when the shootings occurred, he said. A court filing said they had separated in 2024 and filed for divorce last year.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
Justin Fairfax was served recently with paperwork telling him when next to appear in court, Davis said. “Detectives will figure out if that led to this tragedy here," he said.
“It’s very sad for this community,” Davis said. “A lot of people who know the Fairfax family, everybody’s shocked. We’re shocked.”
Cerina Fairfax ran a family dentistry practice in northern Virginia. She graduated from Duke University and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, which honored her in 2015 as its most outstanding alumna of the last decade.
For a brief period in 2019, Justin Fairfax seemed poised to become Virginia's second Black governor as Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam became engulfed in a scandal over a racist photo on his medical school yearbook that led to calls for his resignation.
But then two women came forward accusing Fairfax of sexually assaulting them years earlier. He adamantly denied the allegations and was never charged.
Vanessa Tyson said Fairfax — at the time a Columbia Law School student serving as an aide to Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards — forced her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Two days after Tyson’s statement, Meredith Watson issued her own, accusing Fairfax of raping her in 2000, when they were students at Duke University.
The Associated Press generally doesn't name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but both women came forward publicly. Fairfax said the encounters were consensual and refused calls to resign. Fairfax later tried to run for governor in 2021, some said to clear his name, but was largely shunned by Virginia Democrats.
Fairfax said he believed voters would see through what he described as a smear campaign against him. But he was defeated in the Democratic primary.
A former federal prosecutor and civil litigator, Fairfax first unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2013, then won the race for lieutenant governor in 2017.
The deaths stunned political leaders throughout the state.
“We are keeping Cerina and Justin Fairfax’s family — especially their two children — in our prayers as we all process this shocking and horrifying news,” Virginia’s Democratic U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, said in a joint statement.
Fairfax had served as co-chair for Warner’s 2014 reelection campaign.
Ghazala Hashmi, Virginia's current lieutenant governor, called the deaths devastating.
“My thoughts are with their children, loved ones, and numerous friends,” Hashmi said in a statement. “Along with so many in the Commonwealth, I am filled with sorrow; I await further insights from our law enforcement officials.”
Biesecker reported from Fairfax County, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, Jonathan Matisse in Nashville, Tennessee, Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Fairfax County police confer in front of the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, speaks to supporters at Pink Fish restaurant in Hampton, Va., Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Fairfax County coroners remove a body from the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Fairfax County police secure the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Fairfax County coroners remove a body from the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax answers a question during a debate held in Bristol, Va., on Thursday, May 6, 2021. (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP, File)
Police investigte the scene of an apparent domestic-related shooting early Thursday, April 16, 2026in Annandale, Va. (WJLA via AP)
