By: Joe Pohoryles
After a year of so many setbacks in the chase to 894 career goals, the seemingly unfathomable happened to make the road even more difficult: Alex Ovechkin got injured.
Not including a 39-second shift on May 3 that was more of a test run than anything else, Ovechkin has not played since April 22, and he’s likely done for the regular season. Barring an appearance on May 11, the final game of the 56-game schedule, Ovechkin will finish the season with 24 goals in 44 games (or 43 games plus the aforementioned 39 seconds).
That leaves him exactly one goal behind Marcel Dionne’s 731 career goals, stuck at sixth on the all-time list. At his pace prior to the injury, Ovechkin was expected to be sandwiched between Dionne and Brett Hull in the fifth slot. Instead, we wait.
I projected Ovechkin to finish with around 28 goals this season had he remained healthy, so ending with 24 isn’t a complete train wreck, but it allowed fewer opportunities for Ovechkin to make up for lost time. A torrent stretch to end the year, pushing him into the low to mid-30s would not have been out of the question, but it wasn’t meant to be.
For the Capitals, it’s smart to just hold him out until the playoffs. He was even on the ice today for an optional skate, so he should hopefully be ready to go by the first round. It’s the right move, but it definitely hurts the goal record chase.
Prior to this recent injury, Ovechkin had missed just 35 games in his entire career, and only 17 due to injury. Now it appears he’ll miss the final nine games of an already shortened season (only eight if you don’t include the 39 seconds on May 3), all due to injury.
With all the missed time, there isn’t much to report over the past month. He added four more goals on to his season total, and now rests at 730 total. Assuming there’s a full 82-game season next year, he should be able to pass Dionne, Hull and even Jaromir Jagr to finish 2022 third on the all-time list. Of course, that also assumes he won’t miss extended time with injuries, which for 16 years had been nearly a given.
Now that he’s nearly 36 and entering Year 17, is the Russian Machine finally reaching a breaking point? With his 13-year mega contract expiring this summer and no solid plans in place for the future, the Capitals and Ovechkin need to come to terms on an extension first.
Assuming he stays in Washington and his body doesn’t give out on him, the 2021-22 season will be a prime opportunity to make progress on the chase. He has faced every setback imaginable this year, and with every chunk of missed time, the hope for passing Gretzky dwindles.
Looking ahead in this final installment of the season, a strong make-up performance next year will be extremely necessary. To get back on track for 2022 and beyond, passing Jagr by a handful of goals should be the target.
For now though, as the postseason approaches, Caps fans can hope for Ovechkin and the rest of the team to get healthy in time for the first round, and hope that this roster has what it takes to face any challenger, hopefully resulting in another Stanley Cup. The window for Ovechkin passing Gretzky may look small, but the team’s Stanley Cup window is even smaller.
The lineup is a mess right now, but we’ll see what happens in a little over a week.
Cover Photo Credit: TSN/The Canadian Press
The Wildcard 