He still stick handles and dazzles. It's just not his bread and butter anymore. I think he's molded his game to both the current NHL and to his aging. He hasn't slown down considerably since his rookie year, but he definitely isn't as quick. He is still one of the most aggressive and hardest skaters in terms of explosiveness that there is in the NHL. I remember that one chart that marked the force behind a player's stride and their acceleration, comparing all the best skaters in the league, and Ovechkin's looked like he was from another breed. He towered above the rest.
He's molded into a sniper instead of a stick handling free-range player. That's fine. It's harder to do anything special with how the NHL is constructed. He kept trying to do his old moves around the 2011-2012 season and it wasn't working. Defensemen caught on to them, and his numbers suffered. The past three years he realized he probably has the best one timer in the league, and no one can stop it when it is set up properly. All a goalie can do is pray the puck hits him, but with the way Ovi picks corners, it's a lot less likely they do.
What scores in today's NHL? Deflections, point shots, one-timers, or extra creative stick handling and free range tactics? The answer is obvious. The way that the defensive structures work now is, clog your man, interfere up the boards, stay in the shooting lanes, and hope the other team's shots deflect off you into the stands. Just look in that highlight video from 08-09. Both the Rangers players tried to take Ovi with the body WHILE he had the puck. When does that happen anymore? Rarely, because Ovi will burn them. It rarely happens over the entire NHL nowadays. The big hits and trying to throw the body in open ice doesn't work in the defensive zone. That highlight reel goal doesn't exist if those players don't put themselves in that position. And good defenders rarely do anymore for that reason exactly. The high percentage play is to stick check or to clog, not to rush the body. Personally I think it is amazing the transformation Ovi has had through the years because he was able to adapt like this. He's a world class athlete and the best in the game in so many different facets.