Alex Ovechkin’s career goals and NHL’s all-time scoring list

Alex Ovechkin continues to feature on the NHL’s all-time scorers list.

The Capitals captain enters the 2021-22 season with 730 career goals. That put him 164 times ahead of Wayne Gretzky’s 894 spot. There was question whether he could surpass “The Great One” when “The Great 8” reached the mark. the last years of his career or not. But as Gretzky says, he expects him – and hopes he does – to break the all-time record.

NHL POWER BANK: Ovechkin leads the soaring Capitals

As Ovechkin scrolls through the record book, Sporting News breaks down where he is and where he’s headed as the march to 895 continues in earnest.

All stats updated as of November 15.

NHL’s All Time Goal Leaders

In 1,487 NHL games, Wayne Gretzky has scored 894 goals, averaging 0.60 goals per game. For comparison, as of November 12, Ovechkin has 742 goals in 1,212 career games, averaging 0.61 goals per game.

Alex Ovechkin’s next 10 opponents

During his career, the team that Ovechkin found the back of the net the most was Lightning. He has faced his old opponent of the Southeast Asian tournament 74 times and scored 49 goals. The next team on the list is the Jets with 48 goals in just 67 games.

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Alex Ovechkin’s goals per game by season

If you think, he’s 36 years old, can he keep producing? Ovechkin is like a delicious wine; he just gets better with age.

Will Alex Ovechkin overtake Wayne Gretzky?

Never say never!

Entering this season, Ovechkin is 164 goals behind Gretzky. While he’s off to a terrifying start, it’s unlikely he’ll continue to find the back of the net once per game. A reasonably high score could be the 50-goal barrier, which he most recently achieved in 2018-19, although he did score at a 50-goal rate during the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season.

Fifty goals in an 82-game season, at a rate of 0.61 goals per game. If he plays every game in the future – at least it’s unlikely – he’ll need 249 games (as of Nov. 14) to catch up with Gretzky. That will be around time during the 2024-25 season.

Of course, if he continues to score at breakneck speed, he could get there sooner. Ovechkin’s career-high goals-per-game ratio is 0.79, a number he set in 2008-09. With even the worst predictions, the earliest Ovechkin could catch Gretzky is midway through the 2023-24 season.

Health is unpredictable, but needless to say, it’s probably the biggest factor in judging the 36-year-old’s chances of becoming an all-time goalscorer.

How many Rocket Richard titles has Alex Ovechkin won?

Awarded to NHL’s top scorer by NHL Board of GovernorsThe Maurice Richard Trophy, commonly known as the Rocket Richard Trophy, was offered to the NHL by Canadians in Montreal in honor of the Hall of Famer. During his 18 seasons with the Canadian team, Richard led the NHL in goals scored five times, was the first to score 50 goals in 50 games (between 1944-45) and the first 500 goalscorer in the history. tournament history. He ended his career with 544 goals in 978 games.

The trophy was first presented after the 1998-99 season to Mighty Ducks of Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne, who led the NHL with 47 goals.

Ovechkin won the trophy a record nine times. He may have won it in his rookie year but lost to Sharks’ Jonathan Cheechoo by four, and he was netted in the 2009-10 season.

OVECHKIN: Top 7 career goals

Seasons Alex Ovechkin Won the Rocket Richard Trophy