Ovechkin can break Gretzky's goals record this season, Capitals coach, GM say

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin’s 20th NHL season could turn out to be a special one that ends with him breaking Wayne Gretzky’s League record of 894 goals.

Second in NHL history with 853 goals, the Washington Capitals forward needs 42 to surpass Gretzky’s total. Coach Spencer Carbery and general manager Chris Patrick each believe Ovechkin could reach that number this season after the Capitals upgraded their roster around him with a flurry of offseason moves that included trading for talented forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane and skilled offensive defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

“Do I think he can score 42 goals this year? Yes, I do,” Carbery said Monday. “I absolutely think he’s capable of that.”

Ovechkin, who has been gearing up his offseason training at home in Russia, is approaching his 39th birthday on Sept. 17 and reminded after last season that, “It's still 42 goals. It's kind of a long way.” He has scored at least 42 goals 13 times in his NHL career, though, including as recently as 2022-23, when he scored 42.

“‘Ovi’ has done so many things that people never thought he could do, so I think it’s on the table for sure,” Patrick said last week of Ovechkin breaking the record.

There were signs Ovechkin’s age was catching up with him last season, when he dropped to 31 goals, his lowest output in an 82-game season. He reached that total in dramatic fashion, though, overcoming scoring eight goals in his first 43 games to score 23 in his final 36 and help Washington qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.

“For me, putting himself in good positions to get opportunities is the key,” Carbery said. “And he has shown year after year, including last year, if he puts himself in enough positions to shoot the puck in a good spot, he gets around the net, he’s spending time in the offensive zone, we’re generating power plays, we’re doing a good job on the power play of getting pucks on net, all the things we need to do, he will put the puck in the back of the net.

“So if he’s doing those things, which I expect he will, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he could score 42 goals at his age because of how talented of a scorer he is.”

The Capitals’ four-game loss to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference First Round provided some reminders of their and Ovechkin’s limitations. Ovechkin was held without a point in a postseason series for the first time in his NHL career and Washington scored seven goals in the four games.

That was a continuation from the regular season when the Capitals ranked 28th in the NHL in scoring with 2.63 goals per game, so adding more offense became a top offseason priority.

Dubois is coming off a disappointing season with the Los Angeles Kings with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 82 games, but the 26-year-old had an NHL career-high 63 points (27 goals, 36 assists) in 73 games with the Winnipeg Jets in 2022-23.

Washington hopes Dubois rebounds to be the top-line center it has been seeking in its bid to remain competitive in Ovechkin’s final seasons (he has two seasons left on his contract) and help him chase Gretzky’s goal record while building a bridge to its next era. Dubois will get a look at playing on a line with Ovechkin but could end up playing with Mangiapane as his left wing depending on how all the new pieces fit together in camp.

Regardless, it should be more difficult for opponents to focus solely on stopping Ovechkin.

“Maybe Ovi gets an opportunity against an easier matchup for a couple shifts or whatever it is, and he can take advantage of it,” said Patrick, who was promoted from assistant GM on July 8 to replace Brian MacLellan, who remains team president. “But for sure, for any scorer to have success you want to try to get him good matchups, and the best way to do that is to make it harder on teams to match lines. … So I think we at least helped that cause by some of these moves we made.” 

From his conversations with him following last season and during this offseason, Carbery expects to see a motivated Ovechkin in camp after he was disappointed by his playoff performance. Carbery has discussed trimming Ovechkin's ice time a little this season from his average of 19:13 per game last season to get the most quality out of his minutes, and the Capitals captain committed to changing his offseason training some to account for his age. 

Carbery said photos on social media of Ovechkin on vacation earlier in the offseason might have been misleading to some, but he has “full confidence” Ovechkin will be ready for the start of camp. 

“People have to also remember that Alex is 38, turning 39.” Carbery said. “He’s done this for a long, long time, he’s got a family, kids, so at the end of the year he also needs time to be able to reset mentally and go on vacation and spend time with his family and get away from the game of hockey, so that when July 4 or 5 when his training ramps up, he feels mentally, ‘I’m ready to go and I’m excited and I want to get in the gym.’”

Though Ovechkin is within striking distance of Gretzky’s record, don’t expect that to be a focal point this season for the Capitals, whose primary objective will be to qualify for the playoffs again. But Carbery acknowledged, “If he’s scoring 42 goals for our team, that is a very good thing.” 

And the record talk will be difficult to avoid the closer Ovechkin gets to it.

“I think we as a staff, our players, his teammates, him, do a really good job of [focusing on], ‘Let’s do the necessary things to get there,” Carbery said.” But there’s no doubt that people inside this organization, coaches, players are excited to hopefully see that day come as soon as possible.”