The Washington Capitals have been one of the forces in the Eastern Conference of the NHL for the past decade and a half. It has been an amazing run for that franchise.
It came to a head in the spring of 2018 when they finally broke through and won the Stanley Cup. It took a long time to get there but they got it done. To be honest, it was one of the greatest moments in league history because some of the greatest players we’ve seen finally got to hoist it.
Of course, the big one you think of is Alexander Ovechkin. He is one of the 10 greatest players who ever laced up some skates. It is his ability to score goals at a high rate that makes him so dangerous.
He has 822 career goals which is second all-time. He also has 663 assists for 1485 points so don’t confuse him for being a one-dimensional player.
The Washington Capitals have one thing on their mind at this point in time.
The only person he trails on the all-time leaderboard is Wayne Gretzky who has 894 career goals. He needs 73 more to break that record and be the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
To be honest, getting that done is going to be the top priority for the Washington Capitals franchise for the next few years. In all fairness, that’s the way it should be.
Ovechkin breaking a guy like Gretzky’s all-time goal record would be a monumental moment for the league as a whole. He can absolutely do this.
In his age-37 season, he scored 42 goals in 73 games played. If he stays in that 40-45 range, we could really be talking about him breaking the record in the 2024-25 season. How exciting is that?
The Capitals are going to be a bubble playoff team that may or may not get in. They didn’t get in last year as they fell off at the end.
The Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers are all for sure better and that is just from the Metropolitan Division.
If they want to get in, chances are that they have to beat out one of the Atlantic Division bubble teams for an 8th seed. As long as Ovechkin keeps pumping out goals, however, it will be all good.
How does Washington make sure this happens? Well, at even strength he needs top-line minutes and to keep putting out shots on goals. On the power play, they just need to keep feeding him as they have been for all these years. He will make some noise from his “office” once again.
Watching The Great 8 has been a pleasure for all of these years. Now, we have this one final moment awaiting him and it is going to be so fun as a hockey fan. Embrace it, take it all in, and watch greatness from number 8 in Washington.