Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin (Russian: Александр Михайлович Овечкин; pronounced ; born September 17, 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and alternate captain for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). In January 2008, he signed a thirteen-year contract extension worth $124 million with the Capitals, the most lucrative contract in NHL history.

Ovechkin was the first overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he began play in the 2005–06 NHL season, in which he won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year. During the 2007–08 season, he led the NHL with 65 goals and 112 points to capture the Rocket Richard and Art Ross Trophies. That season he also won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the top player voted by the NHL Players' Association and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP. In 2009, he again won the Hart, Pearson, and Richard awards. He is the only player to win all four awards since the Rocket Richard Trophy's inception in 1999.

Alex Ovechkin is the son of Mikhail Ovechkin a former professional football (soccer) player, and Tatyana Ovechkina, who won two Olympic gold medals while competing for the Soviet women's basketball team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.