Alex Ovechkin came into the 2024-25 campaign close to significant NHL history on multiple fronts. While his chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record received all the headlines, the 39-year-old winger was also just 74 games away from becoming just the 23rd player to ever play in 1,500 career games.
Now, Ovechkin is not making any guarantees he’ll ever get to the mark due to a broken leg he suffered in November, which caused him to miss over a month of time.
“You saw, I had an injury,” Ovechkin told Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov, as translated by Google Translate. “That’s why I don’t know if I’ll be able to reach this goal. You can never make predictions.”
Ovechkin missed 16 games due to the fractured fibula, meaning he can only play in a maximum of 66 games this year. If he plays Washington’s remaining 27 games, he will finish the season with 1,492 career games played.
Top 30 all-time NHL games played
| Player | Games Played |
|---|---|
| Patrick Marleau | 1,779 |
| Gordie Howe | 1,767 |
| Mark Messier | 1,756 |
| Jaromir Jagr | 1,733 |
| Ron Francis | 1,731 |
| Joe Thornton | 1,714 |
| Zdeno Chara | 1,680 |
| Mark Recchi | 1,652 |
| Chris Chelios | 1,651 |
| Dave Andreychuk | 1,639 |
| Scott Stevens | 1,635 |
| Larry Murphy | 1,615 |
| Ray Bourque | 1,612 |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | 1,564 |
| Jarome Iginla | 1,554 |
| Alex Delvecchio | 1,550 |
| Johnny Bucyk | 1,540 |
| Shane Doan | 1,540 |
| Brendan Shanahan | 1,524 |
| Matt Cullen | 1,516 |
| Steve Yzerman | 1,514 |
| Ryan Suter | 1,500 |
| Mike Modano | 1,499 |
| Phil Housley | 1,495 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 1,487 |
| Rod Brind’Amour | 1,484 |
| Doug Gilmour | 1,474 |
| Brent Burns | 1,471 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 1,465 |
| Glen Wesley | 1,457 |
Ovechkin currently ranks 20th in all-time games played among forwards and would be just the 16th to reach the 1,500-game mark. There are no active forwards ahead of him on the all-time list, with Los Angeles Kings’ centerman Anze Kopitar being closest behind him at 1,426 career games.
The only active players ahead of Ovechkin are both defensemen: Brent Burns (1,471) and Ryan Suter (1,500). Suter hit the milestone in the St. Louis Blues’ last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Ovechkin has one more year remaining on his contract with the Capitals. He will likely need to play in a month of games next season to reach the 1,500 mark. However, he is still on pace to top Gretzky’s all-time goal mark this year and has previously joked that he might immediately retire after scoring that 895th goal.
Neither Ovechkin nor the Capitals have committed to contract talks past his current deal. Ovechkin has suggested being open to finishing his career with his hometown team, Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. Dynamo’s President, Viktor Voroin, recently stated that Dynamo is ready to negotiate with Ovechkin after his contract with the Capitals expires next year.
