Team Russia on Wednesday also named Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk its alternate captains for the tournament, which will begin at Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sept. 17.
Ovechkin, who will turn 31 that day, last served as Russia captain at the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk, Belarus. Russia won the gold medal in that tournament.
Ovechkin was named Washington Capitals captain on Jan. 5, 2010. He was 24 at the time.
Malkin, 30, has been a Pittsburgh Penguins alternate captain since the 2008-09 season. Datsyuk, 38, was an alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings before leaving the NHL after last season and joining SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.
"[Ovechkin] and Malkin and Datsyuk, all these guys, they have a lot of respect," Team Russia right wing Nikita Kucherov said Monday. "We are young guys. We're just trying to follow them and listen to them. It's nice to have them."
Datsyuk was Russia captain for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when it failed to win a medal as host country after being eliminated by Finland in the quarterfinals. It was the third consecutive Olympics when Russia did not win a medal.
Team Russia is hoping for a better result at the World Cup.
"We'll see how it goes," Ovechkin said earlier this week. "Everybody is trying to win the tournament. Everybody is trying to win their games, so we'll see how it goes."
Team Russia opened its training camp Monday at Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg and will play its first pretournament game there Thursday against the Team Czech Republic (12:30 p.m. ET; ESPN3, SN, TVA Sports). It will face Team Sweden in its World Cup preliminary round opener at Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sept. 18 (3 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVA Sports).
via NHL.com.
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