Washington Capitals Throwback Thursday: Alex Ovechkin’s Historic Rookie Season
Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
The Capitals have had some pretty impressive rookie performances over their 40-year history. As I discussed earlier this week, Andre Burakovsky had a surprisingly impressive rookie season (especially when put in context that Burakovsky was a 19-year-old). Nicklas Backstrom had an impressive rookie season in 2006-2007. Jim Carey almost won the Calder in 1994-1995 despite playing in just 28 games. However, none of these rookie seasons can match up with the Capitals greatest rookie season ever: Alex Ovechkin‘s.
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Alex Ovechkin was the first-round pick of the Capitals in the 2004 NHL draft. They won the draft lottery despite not having the worst record in the NHL. Ironically, that honor belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins. When Ovechkin was drafted by the Capitals, it was viewed as a way for the Caps to jump start their rebuild that had begun in 2003.
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Ever since Ovechkin stepped on an NHL rink (he had to wait a season thanks to the lockout), Ovechkin has lived up to every ounce of hype surrounding him. He wound up winning the Calder during the 2005-2006 season, beating out 2005 number one overall pick (and archrival) Sidney Crosby. Just how good was his rookie season? Let’s take a look back at it.
Ovechkin became the first rookie in 15 seasons to be named to the NHL First All-Star Team and was a finalist for the Lester B. Pearson Award (now known as the Ted Lindsay Award). He led all rookies in the following categories.
- Goals (52)
- Assists (54)
- Points (106)
- Shots on goal (425)
Not only were his 425 shots on goal the highest among rookies, it also led the NHL and at the time, was the fourth-highest shot total by anyone in any season. He finished third in the league in points and tied for third in goals. Let’s compare Ovechkin’s rookie season to other rookie seasons. I used all rookie forwards 18 to 20 who played at least 500 minutes at even strength in a season since 2005.
- Even Strength goals – 25 (first)
- Even Strength points – 46 (first)
- Even Strength goals per 60 minutes – 1.60 (second)
- Even Strength points per 60 minutes – 2.94 (second)
- Even Strength individual Scoring Chances – 194 (fourth)
- Even Strength Scoring Chances For % Relative – 11.45% (first)
- Even Strength Corsi For % Relative – 8.58% (first)
The Capitals forward dominated at even strength. His stats could have been even better, but as his relative stats say, the Capitals were a pretty horrible team back then. As always, Ovechkin stood out the most with the man advantage.
- Power Play goals – 20 (first)
- Power Play assists – 30 (tied for first)
- Power Play points – 50 (first)
- Overall goals – 52 (first)
- Overall assists – 54 (second)
- Overall points – 106 (first)
Putting era into context, one could make the argument that Ovechkin had the greatest rookie season in modern NHL history. His rookie season is one that will never be forgotten. With the arrival of Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, Oilers fans and Sabres fans can only hope that their respective star’s rookie season will be as great as Ovechkin’s.
All stats courtesy of War-On-Ice
Next: Alex Ovechkin: The Dark Knight Of The NHL