How soon will Alex Ovechkin catch Wayne Gretzky?

Next season Alex Ovechkin has a chance to reach two milestones in his 18th season with the Washington Capitals. With 780 goals in his storied career, he could reach 800 goals and tie Gordie Howe’s mark of 801 by midseason if he continues to score at the rate that he’s going. Then he could pass Howe and then only Wayne Gretzky will be in his sights.

Wayne Gretzky finished his historic career with 894 goals. When Ovechkin signed his five year contract extension last summer to potentially retire as a Capital, he needed to average just 33 goals over the next five seasons.

Year one of that contract extension has passed and in that season he scored 50 goals despite being 36 years old. He turns 37 in September.

Only once in Ovechkin’s career has he failed to score 30 goals and the only reason that was the case was because that season was shortened already due to the pandemic. He had 24 in that whacky 2021 season. Before the pandemic and the bubble craziness, Ovechkin scored 48 goals.

The lowest number of goals Ovechkin has scored in an 82 game season was 32 that he had in 2010-11. Other than that he’s mostly been scoring 40 goals or more. So knowing he continues to put up impressive numbers well into his 30s how soon will it be to Ovechkin passing the great one?

If Ovechkin can have another 50 goal season, he could very well pass Gretzky at the end of the 2023-24 season. The Caps enter the 2022-23 season in a unique spot. They should get better if they make the necessary changes. It might also be their last legitimate shot at winning a Cup.

I feel like after next season it’s going to be all about getting Ovechkin the record as soon as possible so he can ride off into the sunset.

There’s a couple of reasons for that. Peter Laviolette is in the third and final year of his head coaching contract. We don’t know if General Manager Brian MacLellan is on the hot seat or even the details of his contract, but after four straight first round exits one could imagine that GMBM very well might be.

We also know this team is not getting any younger. That starts with the captain. His sidekick and best friend Nicklas Backstrom has a hip injury and his status for next season remains up in the air. We also know Tom Wilson will be out for at least six to eight months. That all sets up a critical offseason.

But one thing is for sure, we could be celebrating Ovechkin catching Gretzky as early as 2024 and in the meantime we’ll be along for the ride.