Alex Ovechkin joined the Washington Capitals training camp this week after a minor injury scare. He turned 40 on Wednesday and played his 20th NHL season last year. He is starting the final year of his five-year, $47.5 million contract.

Now, with the 2025-26 season starting in less than a month, Ovechkin said he is not thinking about another deal yet.

"No, not [thinking about another contract] yet," Ovechkin told the media on Thursday. "So, we'll see what's going to happen. I just came back almost a week ago, so I'm pretty sure we have lots of time to talk."

In August, Capitals general manager Chris Patrick said Ovechkin will decide when to talk about his plans. He explained that the team respects his decision and called him a unique player.

"He's earned the right to make those decisions and calls in his career," Patrick said in mid-August, via NHL.com. "So, you kind of just let him bring it to me what he's thinking at whatever time he wants to talk about it, and we'll go from there."

Ovechkin scored 44 goals last season despite missing 16 games with a leg injury. He passed Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL's all-time goals leader with 895 goals. Now, he will enter his 21st NHL season with 897 goals and nine games shy of completing 1,500 in his career.

Last season, Ovechkin had six points in the playoffs before the Capitals lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said Ovechkin was disappointed by the result.

"I think he was really disappointed after the Carolina series," Carbery said, via NHL.com. "That was a hard series, especially for our top skill guys, our top offensive players..."

Carbery expects Ovechkin to stay motivated this year.

Since Alex Ovechkin's contract will end after this season, many people are curious if this will be his last NHL season. In May, Ovechkin said he had not thought about retirement.

"To be honest with you, I haven't thought about it yet, but we'll see what's going to happen," Ovechkin said after the Capitals' playoff exit, via NHL.com. "Obviously, I'm going to try to do my best to be able to do well next year, and we'll see."

For now, Alex Ovechkin's focus is on winning with Washington. The Capitals last won in 2018 with Ovechkin leading the team. So, we can expect him to remain competitive all season.