Capitals Confident Alex Ovechkin Catches Gretzky This Season

The Washington Capitals believe Alex Ovechkin can catch Wayne Gretzky's record this season.

Apr 28, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) reaches for the puck as New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) defends in the first period in game four of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals have a renewed hope in their Stanley Cup ambitions heading into the 2024-2025 season. After a few impressive trades and a couple free agent contracts, the Caps are improved and hungry to give their captain and aging core another championship run.

In order for the Capitals to succeed this season, their new additions will need to prove their worth. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane are there to bolster the top-six group while Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy, and Logan Thompson aim to shut down opposing offenses. But the most important piece of the Caps' success remains the greatest goal scorer in NHL history, Alex Ovechkin.

Entering season 20 in the NHL, Ovechkin is the catalyst for the Capitals offense. Coming off of a 31-goal season last year, Ovi is in position to tie or surpass the NHL's all-time goal scoring record set by Wayne Gretzky. He needs 41 goals this campaign to tie Gretzky's record of 894 and 42 goals to break a record most thought was unbreakable.

Within the Capitals' organization, there is a belief and confidence that Ovechkin can do the impossible this season during his age-39 season. The team's head coach, Spencer Carbery, gave a ringing endorsement when discussing where Ovechkin's game is with NHL.com.

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

It isn't just the coach who feels like Ovechkin can continue defying the odds at his age. General Manager Chris Patrick's focus this summer was adding talent to the Caps' lineup in order to give Ovi better matchups and more opportunities this season.

"For any scorer to have success you want to try to get him good matchups," he said. "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.” 

The vote of confidence from the Capitals staff and management is significant for their captain. It would be easy to see his 31-goal campaign last season as the beginning of the end for Ovechkin and a sign of his declining skills. The Caps aren't sold on that, evidenced by their moves this summer. They believe with a bolstered lineup, Ovechkin is on the precipice of cementing himself as the best goal scorer in the history of the NHL.

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