It's my favorite day of the offseason. The day where we grade how Alex Ovechkin did but this year the Washington Capitals captain more than exceeded expectations in his 20th season.
Ovechkin turned 39 years old yet still scored 44 goals and added 29 assists for 73 points in 65 games. He also had a plus/minus of +15 and had seven game winning goals while averaging 17:43 minutes of ice time.
He carried that momentum over into the playoffs in the first round in particular. He had his first playoff overtime goal in Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens and the Caps advanced past the first round for the first time since 2018.
Against the Carolina Hurricanes, well they were pretty much everyone's kryptonite. Ovechkin still finished the playoffs with an impressive six points, that's five goals and one assist in those 10 games.
Ovechkni got off to a scorching start to the season. He scored his first goal of the season in the fourth game and would dominate for about a month.
That included a hat trick in a win over the Vegas Golden Knights and two goals against the Utah Hockey Club which is now the Utah Mammoth. But in that game against the new hockey team, a hit by Brock McBain hurt Ovi's fibula and he was out of the lineup the rest of November and much of December.
But as we all know who root for the Capitals, it's to never count Ovechkin out. He came back against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 28 and naturally pickedup where he left off.
He did so by scoring in that game and in four of his first five games back in the lineup. All of a sudden talks about The GR8 Chase were back on.
As Ovechkin kept scoring, more eyes were turning to the Capitals. There was more media in the dressing rooms like it was a Stanley Cup Final. Would that end up being a distraction to the rest of the team? That's up to you to decide.
Ovechkin, however, didn't let the distractions get to him. He just kept doing what he does best, scoring. On April 4 against the Chicago Blackhawks, Ovi would light the lamp twice to put him at 894.
It came on a night where the Caps honored the players from the Stanley Cup era with familiar faces in the building. Wayne Gretzky himself was also in the house with League commissioner Gary Bettman.
Bettman and Gretzky would join the Capitals that weekend as they headed to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders. Thousands upon thousands of Caps fans also made the trip in hopes to see history.
They saw exactly that. The Caps lost that game 4-1 but the one goal scored in that contest was the golden goal to put Ovechkin at 895. In a season where many doubted the Caps would be good and uncertainty about Ovechkin, the Great Eight proved them wrong once again. He passed with flying colors.
Grade A+: Alex Ovechkin made history this season and he deserves a pat on the back and all the accolades that follow. He can also be happy that he aced this report card. To score 44 goals at age 39 is an incredible feat. To be the number one goal scorer in league history, that's another that we might not see again.