Ovechkin Passed Gretzky in Goals Long Ago By My Count

As I write this in early 2025, Alex Ovechkin sits 20 goals behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL-record career mark of 894. There is no doubt Ovi will finish off the chase, and when he does, the general hockey world will rightfully crown him the greatest goal scorer of all time.

But the way I figure it, Ovechkin surpassed Gretzky as a goal scorer more than five years ago—which only made Ovi the third greatest goal scorer. In early 2021, Ovechkin passed Jaromir Jagr to become the second greatest goal scorer, and then in 2024 passed Gordie Howe to become the NHL’s greatest goal scorer.

So, how do I figure it? To account for varying scoring environments, every forward’s yearly goal total is adjusted by whatever factor forces top forwards to average the historical average of .39 goals per game. To account for varying schedule lengths, all NHL seasons are prorated to 82 team games. (For a more detailed explanation of my adjusted stats, see the “Adjusted Stats Used” heading on this page.)

Gretzky played in the highest offensive era in history—top forwards averaged .45 goals per game during his career—so his goals take a major hit in any serious attempt at adjustment. Forward goal scoring was below average for Howe (.38), Jagr (.37), and Ovechkin (.36), so their goal totals get boosts. Gretzky, Jagr, and Ovechkin get modest games played boosts in my adjustments (between 56–68 career games added) while Howe gets a hearty 296 career games played added due to the significantly shorter seasons in his time. Add it all up and Gretzky loses 121 goals in my adjustments, Jagr gains 72, Ovechkin gains 133, and Howe adds 173.

I can pinpoint Ovechkin’s real-life goal that pushed him past Howe into the top spot in my adjustments. It came on March 16, 2024, and looked just like this:

Here are my adjusted goals NHL career leaders from 1926-27 through 2023-24:

I won’t be figuring adjusted goals for 2024-25 until the season ends, but with 21 actual goals already scored this year, it is safe to say Ovechkin has already hit 1,000 adjusted goals!