Will Alex Ovechkin Beat Wayne Gretzky’s Goal Record?

One of the most interesting storylines for the next few seasons is Alex Ovechkin’s race to Wayne Gretzky’s “unbreakable” goal record. Gretzky is undoubtedly the best player in NHL history and was completely dominant during his NHL career. At the end of the Great One’s NHL career, it was safe to say his goal record was never going to be broken. That was until a Russian winger named Ovechkin made his way to the NHL and is making the case for the best goal scorer in NHL history. Here is a look at how close Ovechkin is at beating the record, and if he will in fact beat the record.

Wayne Gretzky

Games Played: 1,487

Goals: 894

Goals per game: 0.601

Alex Ovechkin

Games Played: 1,197

Goals: 730

Goals per game: 0.610

So far in his career, Ovechkin has a higher goal per game average by 0.9. However, towards the end of players’ careers, they tend to drop off in production. It’s no guarantee that Ovechkin keeps up this pace. Over the past five years, Ovechkin has dropped a little in goal production with 0.573 goals per game but still is on a good pace to beat the record.

As of now, Ovechkin only needs 165 goals to beat Gretzky’s record. This offseason Ovechkin signed a five-year extension with the Washington Capitals, and it is widely assumed that Ovechkin will retire from the NHL after his contract expires.

Goals needed to beat the record: 165

Assumed number of games remaining: 410

Goal per game needed: 0.402

Goals per season needed: 33

In the next five seasons, Ovechkin will need a 0.4 goal per game pace or 33 goals per season to surpass the Great One’s record. Based on his current goal-scoring pace, it is a safe prediction that Ovechkin will beat the Great One’s NHL Goal record.

Final Prediction: Alex Ovechkin will surpass Wayne Gretzky’s most goals record in 2024-25 to become the all-time leading goal scorer in NHL history. The Great 8 will finish his career with 930 goals, solidifying himself as the best goal scorer in NHL history.