Alexander Ovechkin named sixth greatest NHL player by The Athletic
The Russian forward of “Washington” has already scored 812 goals in his career in the NHL regular season, second only to Wayne Gretzky
Фото: Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire / www.imago-images.de / Global Look Press
Russian forward “Washington Capitals” Alexander Ovechkin took sixth place in the ranking of the greatest players in modern NHL history according to the authoritative portal The Athletic.
Ovechkin, 37, continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky on the NHL’s all-time leading scorer list. On account of the Russian now 812 goals, before the Canadian record, he has 82 goals left.
“It’s really unrealistic. I would say that he is now a more productive and smarter player, and more involved than ever in his youth,” said Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.
The Athletic launched the NHL99 project, in which nine authors of the publication compiled their top 100 best players in the history of the NHL since 1967, when the league first expanded from six to 12 clubs. The Athletic regularly publishes the next hockey player from the rating, now it’s time for the sixth number, which the Russian has become.
Of the Russians, the top 100 also included Evgeni Malkin (26th place), Sergey Fedorov (33), Pavel Bure (36), Pavel Datsyuk (43), Nikita Kucherov (72), Andrey Vasilevsky (79), Alexander Mogilny ( 89) and Sergei Zubov (95).
Ovechkin has nine titles “Maurice Richard Trophy” (best in goals scored in the season), as well as three “Hart Trophy” (best player of the season according to journalists) and “Ted Lindsay Award” (best player of the season according to the union), one Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup Playoff MVP award), one Art Ross Trophy (goal plus passer award), and one Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Season). The Russian is a three-time world champion in the Russian national team and the Stanley Cup winner with Washington (2018).
