Catching 99 is Ovie’s one outstanding goal
Durability and consistency suggest Ovechkin could threaten a Gretzky record thought to be untouchable
TORONTO — Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals donated a Stanley Cup ring to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday, which brought Ovechkin close to the hockey immortals he will join one day.
As he viewed the hall’s displays, its archives and then placed the ring in its new display case, Ovechkin came within viewing distance of the displays capturing hockey’s greatest players, including Wayne Gretzky, the top goal scorer the game has seen.
Almost naturally, the thought of the 33-year-old Ovechkin — with 649 career goals in 14 seasons — actually catching Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 in 1,487 games has surfaced among the media and fans.
Ovechkin is not given to talking about himself, or his place in NHL goal-scoring history.
“It’s a special place (Hall of Fame)” is all Ovechkin would say, as he and his teammates spent several hours at the hall in advance of Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But, if there is a “doable” way to predict if Ovechkin could chase down Gretzky, it could work, based on consistency of production, and health.
To tie Gretzky, Ovechkin would have to score 245 more goals. If he plays until he’s 40 — seven more seasons including this one — he would have to average over 35 goals in each of those campaigns to turn the trick.
Ovechkin has not set a career timetable before himself, and, even if he did, the Gretzky math in front of him is a tall order. However, Ovechkin has proved not only a prolific goal scorer, but one of its most durable. He has not missed more than 10 games in any season. He’s played 59 of the Capitals’ 60 games this campaign (receiving a one-game suspension for opting out of the all-star game), and 1,062 of the 1,125 games he’s been eligible for over his career — a 95 per cent clip.
With 23 games left in the season, he is on pace to surpass the 50-goal mark. He scored 49 last season and, if he reaches 53, it would mark his highest output since the 2014-15 season when, at age 29, he scored 53 times.
No NHL player 33 or older has led the NHL in goals since 1974-75, when Phil Esposito scored 61 for Boston. Ovechkin enters the Leafs game Thursday night with 42 goals. He had six more than his nearest rivals heading into Wednesday night’s play.
Even so, the Gretzky odds are still long: Ovechkin has averaged just over 20 minutes of ice time in six of the past seven seasons, just under three minutes shy of his career high 23:06, in the 2007-08 seasons, when he was 22 years old and scored a career-high 65 goals.
That season also saw Ovechkin register a career-high 14.6 shooting percentage, but his current 20:57 ice time average is his highest since 2010-11, and 48 seconds better than his Stanley Cup-winning season last year. His current shooting percentage is also at 17.9 per cent, with a 0.71 goals per game clip, the second highest mark of his career, next to that ’07-08 season (0.79).
Ovechkin played 106 games last season — the most of his NHL career — and says, “once you’ve won (the Stanley Cup), you want to win again.”
“I’d rather have a short summer than a long summer,” he added, when asked how his health is after such a long campaign.
In addition, he has two years left on his contract, so either the Caps, or another team, would have to be willing to sign or extend a 34-year-old player for five to six more seasons, just to give him the playing platform to chase Gretzky down.
Ovechkin’s current career goal mark places him 14th all-time, seven shy of Brendan Shanahan, and needing 41 more to crack the top 10.
With a pair of power-play goals Monday, he sailed past the 40-goal mark for the
10th time in his career, placing him with Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Marcel Dionne, as the only players to accomplish that feat. If he reaches 50 goals, he’d join Gretzky and Mike Bossy as the only players to reach that number eight times.
Ovechkin’s visit Wednesday was the second time he’s been at the Hall of Fame in his career. One of his sticks is enshrined there, and he was able to look at the newest ring that will be added to the Stanley Cup — one with his name, and his Capitals’ teammates names, from their championship last spring.
“I’m happy to see my name here. My stick is here. It’s very special stuff,” he said.
In the meantime, it wasn’t all statistics and history for Ovechkin and the Capitals on Wednesday after they learned Devante Smith-Pelly had been placed on waivers while the players practised at the Mastercard Centre earlier in the morning.
Some confusion had preceded the announcement, with the club pulling Dmitrij Jaskin from practice. It was thought that Jaskin had been placed on waivers, and the move created confusion until the club clarified their intents, placing Smith-Pelly on the wire instead, and pulling him from practice, with his father at the rink watching practice and not aware of what was going on.
“It’s a tough business,” said Tom Wilson, who grew up with Smith-Pelly playing hockey in Toronto. “He’s been a huge part of this team. I grew up with him. He’s a great friend.”
Jaskin (US$1.1 million) and Smith-Pelly ($1 million) were close in terms of their respective cap hit; it’s believed the wire move was part of a potential trade this week.
The trade can’t happen until Smith-Pelly is either claimed or waived by the noon deadline Thursday.