Alex Ovechkin's career may not end this season after all

Alexander Ovechkin isn't ready to close the book on his career, and he made that clear to the Washington Capitals faithful this week.

At 41, the captain says he hasn't decided whether this will be his final season. He's not chasing headlines about it either.

"I have to make the team," Ovechkin said, according to Sammi Silber on Thursday. Not exactly the kind of line you expect from a franchise icon.

But that's Ovechkin. Focused on the grind in front of him instead of the farewell tour everyone else wants to write for him.

Last season he still put up 32 goals and 32 assists for 64 points across 82 games, numbers plenty of wingers half his age would sign for.

He closed strong too, with 11 points in his final 10 games and five game-winning goals on the year. That's not a player fading out quietly.

Carrying a $9,500,000 cap hit into a season where nothing is guaranteed says something about where his head is at.

Ovechkin leaves retirement question open heading into camp

Head coach Spencer Carbery and GM Chris Patrick built a Capitals roster that finished 43-30-9 last season, good for 95 points and a playoff push in the Metro.

Washington closed the year on a four-game winning streak, going 8-2-0 over their final 10 games. That's a team trending in the right direction.

Ovechkin posting a -5 rating isn't the number that jumps off the page for him, but the counting stats still hold up against most forwards in the league.

Here's the thing. A player with his resume doesn't need to prove anything to anyone in that locker room.

And yet he's talking like a guy on a tryout, not a legend cruising into a farewell lap. That tells you something about how he still views the game.

Is that humility, or is it a warning sign about where the front office actually has him penciled in for training camp? Hard to say from the outside.

Either way, Washington opens the year with its captain publicly unsure about his own future, and that's not a storyline that gets buried once puck drop hits.

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