On Frozen Blog

Alexander Ovechkin’s 106 points as a rookie last season were historic not only by NHL rookie standards (bettered only by Teemu Selanne’s 132 points in ‘92-’93), but they announced the certain slaughter of the Caps’ all-time scoring record, currently held by Peter Bondra. AO began the ‘06-’07 season just on the outside of the top 50 scorers in team history — Doug Jarvis’ 112 points placed him at no. 50. Four months into his sophomore season AO has passed the likes of Keith Jones (no. 43), Darren Veitch (no. 40), Geoff Courtnall (no. 36), and Andrei Nikolishin (no. 32). He’ll pass no. 31 Al Iafrate any day now, but the best news is that he’s a virtual lock this season to bump Jaromir Jagr’s 201 points out of the top 30 in team history — for good.
Actually, Dainius Zubrus already has done that. Both Zubrus and Ovechkin will have moved into the team’s top 30 all-time scoring rankings this season.
Ovechkin’s scoring assault is all the more remarkable in light of the heavy checking he’s drawn in his first two seasons — especially last year, when the Caps were more or less an offensive army of one. As the team strengthens both up front and on the blueline in the near future AO’s numbers are likely only to improve.
Assuming reasonable-to-good health the remainder of this season and going forward, AO will move past Dino Ciccarelli, Jeff Halpern, Joe Juneau, Alan Haworth, and even Guy Charron next season. He’ll be on the cusp of breaking into the team’s top 15 scorers, all time, at the end of his third season in the NHL. And while the Caps don’t boast the offensive alumni of say the Wings or Habs, their top gunners are dotted with Hall enshrinement appointments down the road.
And AO’s making a mockery of their scoring feats.
At this pace, when is Ovechkin likely to pass Bondra’s 825 points? Assuming no gigantic leap into the 150-point realm — which is a feat I might not wager against with Nicklas Backstrom arriving soon — right around the time Ovechkin will be just entering his physical prime as a hockey player. Say 27 or 28.
I mentioned the role Ovechkin’s continued health will play in this offensive onslaught. Recall that by the end of last season a great many Caps’ fans and media suggested that Ovechkin’s bull-in-a-china-shop style doomed him to the injured reserve if he maintained it. Last season he played in 81 of the team’s 82 games. This season, he’s 51-for-51. It’s too early still to annoint the title of Iron Man on him, but his training, fitness, and nutrition from here on out are also likely to improve.
Peter Forsberg he ain’t.