Let me preface this article by saying that I am a Washington Capitals fan. I have been my whole life, but I will attempt to be as non bias as possible. Alexander Ovechkin by the end of his career will be the NHL's leading goal scorer.
Ovechkin entered the season one goal behind Marcel Dionne for 5th all time on the NHL All-Time Goals list. Standing only 164 goals behind Wayne Gretzky to break the All-Time record.
He started the season on Wednesday, first tying Dionne's record with #731.
Washington Capitals on Twitter: "#GR8 Goal No. 731 pic.twitter.com/uradZLICWi / Twitter"
GR8 Goal No. 731 pic.twitter.com/uradZLICWi
It didn't take him long to pass Dionne as he did it in the same game, only a few minutes later with #732.
Washington Capitals on Twitter: "we aren't breathing pic.twitter.com/vJplMB73kF / Twitter"
we aren't breathing pic.twitter.com/vJplMB73kF
He recently signed a 5 yr(s) / $47,500,000 contract with the Washington Capitals. Keeping him a Capital through the 2025-2026 season.
If we take 164 goals and divide it by those 5 seasons, we get a pace of 32 goals for Ovechkin to break the record. Ovechkin has only scored less than 32 goals in a season once, last season in a COVID shortened 45 game season he had 24.
I think Ovechkin does it and I don't think it's particularly close. Ovechkin will likely finish out his contract with the Capitals and move on to Moscow and finish his career with Dynamo. However, I think if he played until he "couldn't" anymore in the NHL, he realistically could be the first player to score 1,000 goals.
Even if Ovechkin doesn't break the Great One's record. He without a doubt goes down as the best goal scorer in NHL history in my opinion. If we want to use "goals adjusted for era". Ovechkin is 200+ goals ahead of everybody else on that list. In a league that stifled scoring for many years, Ovechkin is doing unthinkable things and what's remarkable is the consistency. Ovechkin has won the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy (trophy given to the NHL player with the most goals in the regular season) NINE times.
Love him or hate him, we are lucky to be able to watch somebody chase history every night they touch the ice.
