Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is on the verge of becoming one of the most accomplished players in NHL history.
Enter the 2024-25 season, Ovechkin is closing in on becoming the NHL's all-time goals leader. Ovechkin comes into the year with a chance to surpass Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record (894) during the 2024-25 regular season. The Capitals standout currently has 853 career goals, so he would need to rack up 42 goals in order to top Gretzky's league record.
The 2023-24 campaign proved to be a mortal one for Ovechkin, who scored 31 goals last season. Ovechkin's 31 goals was his lowest goal-scoring total since he netted 32 goals in the 2012-13 season. Ovechkin did have just 24 goals in 2020-21, but that season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ovechkin scored 42 goals during the 2022-23 season, and has tallied at least 41 goals in 13 of his 19 NHL seasons.
Ovechkin currently has tallied 1,550 points (853 goals, 697 assists) entering the 2024-25 campaign. He did make even more history in 2023-24 when he registered an NHL record 18th 30-goal season as he passed Mike Gartner (17) for the honor.
Ovechkin will open the 2024-25 season against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Capitals open the campaign with a three-game home stand before hitting the road to start off the season.
Ovechkin will likely continue to be an established force on the Capitals' top power-play unit, so there will be plenty of goal-scoring opportunities. He will look to get off to a hotter start than he did in 2023-24 when he recorded just five goals over the first two months of the season.
CBS Sports will keep track of Ovechkin's goals throughout the 2024-25 season and keep tabs on how close he is to eclipsing Gretzky's all-time record.
