The Alex Ovechkin farewell tour begins in earnest on Tuesday. Due to a scheduling quirk, Tuesday’s game between the Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes at Raleigh’s Lenovo Center on Tuesday night will be Ovechkin’s last regular-season game at the arena.
The Capitals don’t know what to expect.
Ovechkin announced last week that the 2026-27 campaign would be his last in the NHL. The announcement brought an outpouring of well-wishes and memories from fans, players and analysts across the league. It also sent ticket prices soaring, as fan bases from all 32 teams plan to flock to arenas for a final glimpse of the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
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The Hurricanes will be the first fan base to say goodbye to Ovechkin.
Due to a quirk in the schedule, both of Washington’s away tilts against Carolina arrived in the first two weeks of the season. The Capitals opened the campaign with a win against the Hurricanes on Oct. 2.
Tuesday night will be different.
Washington’s players just aren’t sure how abnormal it will be.
“It’s hard to say because it’s so early in the season that I don’t know how big of a reception or ceremony it’s going to be,” forward Dylan Strome said. “Obviously, he deserves it. It’s only six games into the year, so it might be a bit tapered down.”
The Hurricanes are going to set a precedent, one way or another. A video thanking Ovechkin for 22 seasons of memories is a possibility. Some clubs could offer gifts or memorabilia, as MLB clubs did for David Ortiz and Mariano Rivera.
But there are few reference points for a superstar of Ovechkin’s caliber. Gretzky didn’t have a farewell tour. Nobody else in the modern NHL offers a similar comparison.
“For Alex, every city is an event,” Gretzky told The Athletic. “Because you only go there once or twice. So, it’s a big event for him coming to town.”
Many of the Capitals’ 31 opponents have seen ticket prices soar since Ovechkin announced his plans. Washington’s final game in Montreal against the Canadiens features a minimum ticket price of $298, according to TicketData.
But Carolina is in a unique spot, as the first franchise to bid adieu to the three-time MVP just weeks into the season. The cheapest seats were still available for as low as $60 on Monday afternoon.
Ovechkin has terrorized the Hurricanes in 112 career games. The 41-year-old scored 58 total goals with 63 assists across the regular season and postseason matchups.
It’d be hard to imagine the division rivals sending him off with cheers.
“I’m not really sure,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “This will be our first crack at it and kind of see what visiting teams do. I’m sure we’ll get the whole gauntlet of it. … This will be new for us as well.”
There was a shimmer in Carbery’s eyes and a solemnity in his delivery on Monday. The Capitals, of course, have a whole season remaining with Ovechkin at the helm. But Tuesday will be the first of many goodbyes, each one bringing him closer to a regular-season home finale on April 4.
“This will be the last time he’s going to walk off the ice at Lenovo as an NHL player,” Carbery said. “This will be our first crack at it as a group.”
The expected buzz when they visit the Hurricanes — and the rest of the league — won’t be totally foreign to the returning Capitals. The players noted a similar reverence for Ovechkin as he chased down and surpassed Gretzky for the all-time goals mark in the 2024-25 season.
The fact that Ovechkin’s retirement is months away will only dim his reception slightly.
“We’re used to it from a couple of years ago. I do think it’s similar to where, he was still 30 goals away at certain times and the rink was still buzzing and going crazy,” Strome said. “It’s still going to be electric. There’s going to be people giving him the reception he deserves.”
After Tuesday’s trip to North Carolina, 31 send-offs remain for Ovechkin. The Capitals return for a five-game homestand, beginning Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, before another farewell matchup in Nashville against the Predators on Oct. 29.
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