Former NHLer believes Ovechkin will be at 2026 Winter Olympics regardless of his age

While everyone is disappointed with the fact that NHLers won't be taking part in the Winter Olympics coming up in February in Beijing, it's a safe bet no one is more disappointed than Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Ovi was a major force in getting the league to agree to let players go in 2022 after missing the 2018 Olympics. At one point, Ovechkin even indicated he would go whether the NHL gave permission or not. With COVID derailing the plans for 2022, one former NHLer believes The Great 8 will be at the Olympics in 2026 despite the fact that he'll be 40 then.

"With Ovechkin's health, he'll play like [Jaromir] Jagr at 44," said former NHL netminder Ilya Bryzgalov. "So this Olympics is not the last chance for him. Look at what he's doing in the NHL."

Bryzgalov can tend to be pretty out to lunch sometimes, but he may not be wrong here. At 36, Ovechkin shows no signs of slowing down and is among the points leaders in the NHL so far this season. He has 22 goals and 47 points in 31 games and is just two points behind both Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton OIlers for the lead.

Ovechkin has Olympic gold in his blood, as his mother played for the Russian National Basketball Team that won Olympic gold twice.

Source: Championat.com

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