Alex Ovechkin's Stellar Season: Eyes on Gretzky’s Record

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00:00Pete, not to make it about any particular individual,

00:03but absolutely going to do that.

00:04Alex Ovechkin, Ovi, has been playing some fantastic hockey.

00:0839 years of age, and he's still looking like

00:10one of the young guys out there on the ice.

00:12He's top 10 in goals.

00:14He's getting assists. He's putting up points.

00:16I mean, is there any slowing down Ovechkin?

00:19And what's going to be, I guess, the benchmark

00:21once it's all said and done at the end of this year for him?

00:25I mean, in his prime, like I'm talking, you know,

00:28way earlier in the 2000s, he's had 60-plus goals.

00:33He's had 40 a bunch of times.

00:35Could he get up into the 50s

00:37and break Gretzky's record this season?

00:39Right now, he has 10 goals in his first 14 games.

00:42So his current pace would break Gretzky's record this season.

00:47Again, I mentioned, like, the Capitals have been playing

00:50a little bit above their heads so far,

00:52but he does have a really good centerman in Dylan Strom

00:55that he's really comfortable with,

00:56has been playing with for a few years now.

00:58And Washington just made so many low-key,

01:01sneaky upgrades in the offseason.

01:04They got Jacob Chikrin on the back end.

01:05They got a 1B goalie in Logan Thompson.

01:08They got Andrew Mangiapane.

01:10They got Pierre-Luc Dubois.

01:12Like, their top-nine forward group is really good.

01:14Their defense is better.

01:16The goaltending is stable enough with a decent tandem

01:19that I think Ove is live here for the Rocket Richard.

01:23That other number you mentioned, the Hart Trophy,

01:25that may be a stretch here

01:27just because there is Kaprizov, McDavid,

01:30all these other guys that are probably going to score,

01:32you know, 30 or 40 more points than him.

01:35So maybe he's not really in play for that award.

01:38The Capitals would really have to finish,

01:40like, near the top of the Metro,

01:41and he would have to break the record

01:43for him to be considered for the Hart Trophy.

01:45But Rocket Richard, that's not based on any voting.

01:48If he leads the league in goals,

01:49he wins that award over, say, a Matthews

01:52who's injured right now.

01:53So it's really possible.

01:56Pete, let's look at that MVP market

01:57because some of the names,

01:58even, like, the most common NHL fan will know,

02:01Kucherov, McKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Makar,

02:04but I do see Kaprizov at a plus-350 price

02:06leading right now in the Hart Trophy odds.

02:09How good has he been so far up there in Minnesota?

02:13Yeah, everything seems to be aligning for this guy.

02:15After next season, he's due for a new contract.

02:19We don't know if he would stay in Minnesota.

02:21Depends on the trajectory of the franchise.

02:23But this guy is absolute lightning right now

02:27for the Minnesota Wild carrying them.

02:29They have a nice team around them

02:30with guys like Matt Boldy, the veteran Zuccarello,

02:34defenseman who was a finalist

02:35for the Calder Trophy last year,

02:38and Brock Faber, and some decent goaltending.

02:41They got three good options, really, moving forward.

02:44So I think that Kaprizov right now,

02:47if I were to pick, I just picked at the one-month mark.

02:49I don't vote for this award,

02:51but I have Kaprizov number one right now.

02:53He deserves it. The Wild are in the playoff mix.

02:56They look a lot better.

02:58He's, you know, he missed the playoffs last year.

03:00If he continues to carry them

03:02through some of the holes on that roster

03:04the rest of the way,

03:05like, I feel like he could be a slam dunk.

03:08It's never for sure because McDavid,

03:11like, look at him, right, missed a little time

03:12because of injury, four points last night.

03:15He'll get back into the conversation for sure.

03:17But Kaprizov is a beast out there right now.

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