Alex Ovechkin cleared for contact at Capitals camp

Alex Ovechkin has received a key green light.

The Washington Capitals star was out of a no-contact jersey for practice for the first time at training camp on Monday, NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reported.

Ovechkin, 40, left the ice on the first day of camp on Sept. 18 to be evaluated for a lower-body injury.

The Capitals have three more pre-season games before their season opener on Oct. 8.

Ovechkin made history last season as he surpassed Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.

The 2025-26 season will be the Russian’s 21st in the NHL. In that span, he’s recorded only one sub-30-goal season, which came in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.

In 1,491 games, Ovechkin has 1,623 career points.