Washington Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin reveals how he plans to spend his post-retirement life with Evgeni Malkin

As Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are nearing the final stages of their playing careers, a new discussion has emerged about their post-retirement life. In response to this, Ovechkin stated that he views his post-retirement life as joining his longtime friend and rival, Evgeni Malkin, behind the bench.

According to reports, Alexander Ovechkin is nearing the end of his NHL playing career at the age of 40 and in his 21st season. He is also nearing his five-year contract with the Washington Capitals at the end of the year, giving him an appropriate opportunity to retire, if he wishes.

But the Capitals star does not seem to stop and has recently scored at least 1,000 combined goals between the regular season and playoffs, joining NHL legend Wayne Gretzky as the only two players in NHL history. Ovechkin scored his 1,000th goal in the 26th game of the season during a power play in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Reports suggest he will need 17 more total combined goals to surpass Gretzky’s record of 1,016 combined goals.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin wishes to be Evgeni Malkin’s assistant coach after retirement

Washington Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin is still chasing goals in the NHL, but has recently shared his idea about his post-retirement life. He floated the idea of joining and serving his longtime friend Evgeni Malkin as an assistant coach.

In a recent appearance on Fonbet’s “FONtour NHL,” Ovechkin said he could “see Malkin as a coach” and added that if the Pittsburgh Penguins center ever took a head-coaching job, he would happily serve as his assistant. Earlier, he stated that when his NHL days are over, he would want to return to the KHL and represent his boyhood club, Dynamo Moscow. But he recently hinted at taking on another role to continue his hockey career after he retires.


Speaking about Evgeni Malkin’s retirement plans, Ovechkin said, “I can see Malkin as a coach. The atmosphere in the locker room would definitely be awesome.” As the discussion continued, the Capitals legend added that he wants to serve him as an assistant coach. “I’d even go as his assistant. For sure. If he were a coach, I’d go be his assistant.”

It is important to note that the two Russian legends have a combined 2,823 NHL games played and 3,073 points scored. They also have four combined Stanley Cups, three Art Ross Trophies, two Calder Trophies, one Conn Smythe each, four Hart Trophies, four Ted Lindsay’s, and Ovechkin has nine career Rocket Richard Trophies.

Meanwhile, as per recent reports, Ovechkin has just become the second player in NHL history to score 1,000 total goals between the regular season and playoffs on Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche. He also happens to be the lone player in the NHL record book to reach 900 career regular-season goals, and is an all-time goal-scoring leader with 923. It will be interesting to see if Ovechkin will cross Wayne Gretzky's record of 1,016 combined goals before his retirement in this season.


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