It's Time To Start The Watch For Auston Matthews Breaking Alexander Ovechkin's All-Time Career Goals Record
Mark Blinch. Getty Images.Alex Ovechkin is now just 44 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for most career NHL goals. The dude is a machine so he realistically could go on playing another 4-5 years just scoring 10 goals per season if he really needed to in order to break the record. But he'll likely get there next season, or 2025-26 at the very latest. It's inevitable at this time.
Speaking of inevitability…
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One more goal for Matthews and you can officially declare America as the Cold War Champions of the world. 65 goals on the year matches Ovechkin's best season ever. One more goal surpasses every single player who is currently in the NHL.
Ovi scored 65 in just his 3rd year in the league. That's when the Russian Gas was at it's premium. But that was his peak and he's been chasing it for the past 15 years. Auston Matthews hasn't even begun to peak yet. He ripped 60 a couple seasons ago, took a quick little step back with 40 last season, but now he's ramping it back up. Maybe this sick puppy gets to 70 before this season is all said and done for. Maybe he hits 80 next season, who knows.
What I do know is that through his first 8 seasons in the NHL so far, Auston Matthews has scored 364 goals with a chance to add a few more to that total before the regular season wraps up. Through the first 8 seasons of his career, Alexander Ovechkin scored 371 goals. He's right on pace, and he's not just a powerplay merchant scoring 500 goals from "the office".
So while the entire hockey world continues to be on Ovi watch, allow me to be the first to officially start the Matthews Chasing Ovechkin watch. We're only 532 goals away.