ARLINGTON, Va. - Alex Ovechkin said Saturday that he intends to return to his 21st NHL season after breaking Wayne Gretzky's professional goal record earlier this spring.

Ovechkin joked about joining the minor league Hershey Bears for the playoffs, noting that the question wasn't whether he would come back, but whether he had the ability to win a place.

"First of all, (I) have to make a lineup when I'm 40." Ovickin quipped on the locker room cleaning day, less than 48 hours after he and the capital were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricane in the second round.

Ovechkin turned 40 in September and he had one season left in his five-year $47.5 million contract in 2021. He said he was approaching the summer like anyone else, planning to train the same way in the offseason to see where things went.

“I’m going to take a break in the offseason (offseason), enjoy my life and then get back to work,” Ovechkin said. “I’m doing our jobs, preparing for this season and doing what I can.”

Ovechkin is about to have a whirlwind season, overcoming a broken leg, scoring 44 goals (the third in the league) and with Gretzky's career of 894, which seems inaccessible. Russian superstars have 897.

"For him to come back this year and play the way that he did, chase down this record, the start that he had, breaking his leg, coming back from that, and just continuing to not only do things he did individually, statistically, but lead our team -- that's part of the story that will be a minor part of it, but it's a big part of it," coach Spencer Carbery said after the Game 5 loss to the Hurricanes on Thursday night. "He did the performance and performances back this year, and he did it in the playoffs as well. I paid the hat to 'O', his season and his captain led."

Ovechkin led the team with five goals in 10 games in the playoffs, but only one in the second round as he and the team ranked 15th in 16 games in their careers to beat the Eastern Conference Finals. Another time was in their 2018 Stanley Cup match, when Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe trophy with a playoff MVP.

Entering next season, Ovechkin hopes to strive for a second championship.

"I look forward to next year," Ovickin said. "I will do my best and my team will help me too. ... I just want to come back next year and see the team that has the ability to win the Stanley Cup."

Beyond that, he is not sure what the future will be when his contract ends.

"I haven't thought about it yet, but we'll see what happens," Ovickin said. "I'm going to do my best to be able to do well next year, we'll see."

Longtime teammate Tom Wilson speculated on the goal counter "900 and beyond" and Ovechkin was coming.

"I didn't think in my mind that there was no day without a hat," Wilson said. "He was still flying there. His season had an incredible season. I think he might have exceeded expectations.