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Andrei Svechnikov is in his ninth NHL season. At 26, he has won a Stanley Cup, been in the playoffs every year. He has been an NHL All-Star.
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But even now, the Carolina Hurricanes winger says, going on the ice with Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is special. The thrill is still there. The challenge.
“It’s awesome,” Svechnikov said in a recent interview. “Every time you get a chance to play against him, you know in your mind you’re playing against a legend.
“He’s an absolute legend.”
Svechnikov has that chance again Tuesday as the Capitals come into Lenovo Center to face the Hurricanes. Ovechkin has announced this will be his last NHL season, and unless the Canes and Caps meet in the 2027 Stanley Cup playoffs, it will be Ovechkin’s last scheduled appearance in an arena where he was drafted in 2004.
The Hurricanes and Caps already have faced off this season at Lenovo – in the second game, Washington taking a 5-2 win. The Canes have not lost since that night, winning the last five games to push their record to 5-1-1.
Ovechkin, who turned 41 in September, could have hung his skates up and retired after last season. He’s the NHL’s career goal scorer with 930 – the “Great 8” moving past the “Great One,” Wayne Gretzky. He’s on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
But Svechnikov, born in Barnoul, Russia, didn’t believe that would happen.
“Definitely, I knew he was going to be back, hundred percent,” Svechnikov said. “He wants to play. He wants it badly, to add to the reach of his records as much as he can.”
Ovechkin had more to give, Svechnikov said. A man who has become arguably Russia’s most famous sports star also liked the look of the team being assembled in Washington, Svechnikov said, and wanted a run at a second Stanley Cup.
“I think that was his main thing, that if the team would be good, he would stay,” Svechnikov said.
Ovechkin played 82 games last season and had 32 goals and 64 points. He was limited to a career-low five power-play goals – his career-best was 25, in 2014-15 – although still a threat on his booming one-timer from the left circle.
Ovechkin’s ice time per game also was his lowest: 17:27, a slight dip from 2024-25, when he had 44 goals in breaking Gretzky’s record. In five games this season, he’s playing 14:16 per game.
“I don’t think it matters how old he’s going to get,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’ll always be able to score. That won’t leave him.”
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Ovechkin and Svechnikov have a well-chronicled history. In the opening round of the 2019 playoffs, Svechnikov challenged Ovechkin to a fight and the Caps veteran got the better of it.
That was a turning point in a series the Canes won in seven games – the first series victory under Brind’Amour, then in his first year as head coach. It was the first of eight straight playoff appearances that culminated in the Stanley Cup championship last year.
“Playing against him when I was 18 or 19, that was a lot of fun,” Svechnikov said, “Every opportunity you get to play against him is still lots of fun.”
Svechnikov set career highs last season with 31 goals – 12 on the power play – and 70 points, and has steadily become a better 200-foot player. Always physical, his presence is usually felt on the ice.
His goals for this season?
“Winning it again,” Svechnikov said in the recent interview. “For me, personally, having a good season. My best season was last season, and to beat that this season would make me happy, for sure.”
Those weren’t idle words. A year ago, Svechnikov did not have a point in his first eight games. He has four goals and three assists in the first seven games this season – the four goals in the past four games.
Svechnikov had a pair of goals in the Canes’ 7-2 romp over the Vancouver Canucks last week at Lenovo Center. He scored Sunday as Carolina finished off a back-to-back on the road with a 4-1 win over Philadelphia after beating Chicago on Saturday.
“It gives you a lot of confidence,” Svechnikov said of his sizzling start. “Just trying to play hard and play my game. Hopefully, it’s going to stay that way.”
Washington made Ovechkin the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft, and the Pittsburgh Penguins took Evgeni Malkin second. The Canes, picking fourth, drafted forward Andrew Ladd, who two years later would have a Stanley Cup ring with Carolina.
Ovechkin will always have that tie to the arena in Raleigh, even if the name has changed a few times in the past 22 years, even if his visit Tuesday is his last.
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