Ovechkin now in the top 15 all time goal scorers

[SladeWilson23]

I actually do think he can break Gretzky.

 

[koalabear9301]

One thing that I haven't seen being talked about for Ovi breaking the record, is the league's effort in trying to make goal scoring easier (making the goalie pads smaller, etc). That might make things easier on Ovechkin.

 

[WesMcCauley]

If Ovi can score 200ish goals in the next 5 seasons i think he will glue himself to the left circle until he breaks the record no matter how fit he is.

 

[SpinningEdge]

“He’s going to slow down. Gretzky isn’t a possibility”. Been said about him for years.

He he is in Caps 29th game, he has 22 goals, leads the nhl in goals - and over 1/3 through the season and he’s on pace for 61 goals.

Guy is a machine.

 

[JPeeper]

If Ovy plays another 7 years (taking him to 40 years old) and hits 50 this year, he needs to only average 33 a season for those 7 seasons, which for Ovy is doable, to break Gretzky's goal record.

With a Cup win finally, I don't know if he'll play another 7 years though, hopefully he does as he hasn't seemed to slow down that much (skating wise). I think Ovy is the kind of guy that will try and go for the record and keep playing if he gets in the 800's in 4-5 years.

Still can't believe people don't think he is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game. He is doing this in the era of athletic AF goalies with huge equipment, guys blocking shots and overall better players.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He'll break it at 38 years old.

 

[Fantomas]

By far the most interesting goal scoring stat with Ovechkin is that he is almost tied with Gretzky for cumulative career adjusted goals according to hockey-reference.com

Ovechkin, who is 33, has 749 adjusted goals (not counting tonight). Gretzky, who retired at 38, has 758.

In other words, Ovechkin has already made it abundantly clear that he is a more established goal scorer than the great one.

 

[Fantomas]

If Ovechkin actually beats Gretzky's record of career goals (894), he will have beaten an accomplishment that spanned the two highest scoring decades in NHL history. It will be a remarkable feat.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

So next year has breaks into the top 10 right, My god he's so freaking good

 

[txpd]

Passed Sakic and Iginla.

Now 65 goals away from passing Mario Lemieux to get into the top 10.

Man if Jagr motived this guy to play until his early 40's we might be watching the future record breaker right now.

He will play til 40 I think

 

[M.C.G. 31]

The GOAT goal scorer.

 

[blankall]

“He’s going to slow down. Gretzky isn’t a possibility”. Been said about him for years.

He he is in Caps 29th game, he has 22 goals, leads the nhl in goals - and over 1/3 through the season and he’s on pace for 61 goals.

Guy is a machine.

People keep predicting that Ovy will slow down every year, and every year he responds with a 50ish goal season. He only needs a couple more of these before the odds of Ovy beating the record moves from possible to highly likely.

 

[Revelation]

He'd have 700 already if not the lockout and 3 years getting dicked around pre Trotz

 

[gtrower]

People keep predicting that Ovy will slow down every year, and every year he responds with a 50ish goal season. He only needs a couple more of these before the odds of Ovy beating the record moves from possible to highly likely.

That’s the thing. All the projections for him breaking the record include a 5 goal decline per year moving forward. But the Russian Machine still hasn’t showed signs of slowing down. In fact he’s on pace for more.

 

[Analyst365]

He'd have 700 already if not the lockout and 3 years getting dicked around pre Trotz

You could stop floods with all that sandbagging.

 

[Fantomas]

By far the most interesting goal scoring stat with Ovechkin is that he is almost tied with Gretzky for cumulative career adjusted goals according to hockey-reference.com

Ovechkin, who is 33, has 749 adjusted goals (not counting tonight). Gretzky, who retired at 38, has 758.

In other words, Ovechkin has already made it abundantly clear that he is a more established goal scorer than the great one.

By the way, Gordie Howe's adjusted NHL goal total is 925. The real benchmark. And the man left the league to play in the WHA!

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Passed Sakic and Iginla.

Now 65 goals away from passing Mario Lemieux to get into the top 10.

Man if Jagr motived this guy to play until his early 40's we might be watching the future record breaker right now.

Ovechkin will leave for home after his contract is up

 

[The Panther]

So far, Ovechkin is a freak of nature, physically. He's also getting older at just the right time -- scoring is getting higher now, physicality is at an all-time low. His team is good now, too, obviously, which helps extend players' prime years. It all bodes well for him to take a run at the top-5 guys.

Realistically speaking, though, I have to think either age or a (probably overdue, by odds) injury is going to get him sooner than later. But good luck!

 

[Sun God Nika]

I really don't see him having an issue scoring 30 goals until he is 40. Obviously injuries and aging are unpredictable but seeing Iginla, Jagr, Alfie, and Sélanne all be near 30 goal scorers during their late 30s/ early 40's gives me hope.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

So far, Ovechkin is a freak of nature, physically. He's also getting older at just the right time -- scoring is getting higher now, physicality is at an all-time low. His team is good now, too, obviously, which helps extend players' prime years. It all bodes well for him to take a run at the top-5 guys.

Realistically speaking, though, I have to think either age or a (probably overdue, by odds) injury is going to get him sooner than later. But good luck!

There's the thing. With most players you can reasonably predict the age related decline and the increasing likelihood of minor injuries taking longer to heal. The problem is, to date, Ovechkin doesn't fit that mold of player that you can apply those norms to. He's still built like a tank and his shot is just as lethal as it's always been. Nobody will be able to accurately predict what he will or won't do between now and when he decides to retire except to say, it's going to be fun watching the rest of his career.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

You can't prognosticate Ovi's late 30's goal scoring because he is probably the greatest goal scorer of all time, and he isn't comparable to anybody that has come before him.

 

[RorschachWJK]

Like Fantomas wrote, Howe maybe is the real benchmark. But he did play for ever. Anyways, I'm hoping Ovechkin can break Gretzky's record also in actual goals scored. I value era adjusted achievements much more but the general population doesn't.

Ovi is one of my faves too, always seemed like a great guy on top of the goal scoring prowess.

 

[The Panther]

You can't prognosticate Ovi's late 30's goal scoring because he is probably the greatest goal scorer of all time, and he isn't comparable to anybody that has come before him.

Actually, he is. He's extremely comparable to Bobby Hull... who would have scored way more NHL goals than he did if he hadn't defected to the WHA when he did.

 

[Shrimper]

I've maintained for the last year or so that he will break Gretzky's record. I see no reason he can't, barring injuried

 

[JasonRoseEh]

Passed Sakic and Iginla.

Now 65 goals away from passing Mario Lemieux to get into the top 10.

Man if Jagr motived this guy to play until his early 40's we might be watching the future record breaker right now.

What he's doing is remarkable. AGAIN leading the league in goals, 6th in points, the Caps are division leaders and haven't once played with their full lineup this year.

If he keeps this up he should be in the Hart conversation again like he probably should have been last year. He dragged that team into the playoffs last year in a very underrated year.