Could Ovechkin hit 60 this year?

[thekernel]

Sounds unthinkable, right? But here he is, with 29 goals in 41 games. And you know his teammates will be loading him up every chance they get.

If we allow ourselves to dream even further, finishing with 60 goals puts him in striking distance of Gretzky next year.

We've been waiting on him to slow down for a long time so I just thought it'd be fun to have a thread going the other way.

Click to read more...

 

[Mulletman]

Maybe. But even seeing him put up 55 goal would be cool. He's only scored 55 goals or more 2 times during his career...

 

[amin723]

No. He can’t do it. It would be fiscally irresponsible and morally repugnant.

 

[shtorm2005]

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

No. He is on a hot streak right now so extrapolating his pace to 82 games is a bit misleading. He can easily hit a cold patch and he may not even hit 50.

 

[DFC]

Time and age just don't seem to apply in this one case (although I would argue that age is applying less and less as players who never had to adjust to "no red line" hit their mid and late thirties).

4-5 years ago it was just starting to dawn on us that Ovy had a shot at the record, but it was largely a minority opinion because, well, players slow down. Ovy has actually out-performed what people who thought he had a shot (back then) believed he could do.

I think betting on Ovy to hit fewer than 50 is a stupid bet until we see a season where he legitimately slows down. It will inevitably happen, but the regular logic and calculations just don't work in his case.

 

[SwedishFire]

21 more for 50, it would be really cool.

Whos the oldest 50 goal scorer ever?ëdit: ofC its Ovechkin himself

Having spot 1, 3. 2 is some Buyck. Hes a legendI dont know to much about.

Oldest Player To Score 50 Goals In A Season | StatMuse

Alex Ovechkin is the oldest with 50+ goals in a season. He was 36 years old in 2021-22.

www.statmuse.com

Surprising to see how fast it declines in 50 goal scorers after 30, seems to be a young mans feat.

 

[ozzie]

He really is consistently streaky. It's possible, but I keep thinking 50 may not be a guarantee. As someone else said, keep striking while the iron is hot. Getting close to 60 would be almost criminal. If several more teams start to 'tank' aggressively, then who knows?

 

[John Price]

At his scoring rate? The analytics look very favorable!

 

[BallardEra]

He had 27 goals after 41 games last season.

This season he has 29 goals after 41 games.

 

[gtrower]

He’s on a hot streak right now, yes. But it’s a rather lengthy streak at a quarter of the season (21 in 23). He definitely cooled down in the 2nd half last year offensively. But he’s also played most of the 1st half this year without Backstrom, Wilson, Oshie, and Carlson which if nothing else has held back the PP.

So yeah it’s possible, but my guess would be 50-55. If he were to somehow hit 60, the math for 1K before his current contract ends would become 53.3/season…

 

[AD1066]

I'm doubtful. I'm just hoping he breaks the record for most 50 goal seasons.

 

[Hatfield]

No. He is on a hot streak right now so extrapolating his pace to 82 games is a bit misleading. He can easily hit a cold patch and he may not even hit 50.

On the other hand, he started the season pretty cold. He usually heats up in Feb-March.

 

[Midnight Judges]

It's easy to let yourself think extrapolating a full season from a half season is reasonable.

But realistically, sustaining that kind of pace for 82 games is way more difficult than doing it for 41 games.

That said, he's on pace for 58, he's playing great hockey, and most importantly his shot looks as good as ever, so you can't completely rule it out, but the chances are far less than 50% IMO.

 

[Video Nasty]

50 seems reasonable at point.

60 at 37, even with elevated league scoring, would be yet another feather in his cap. He’s been white hot for awhile now, so you have to imagine a dry spell is coming.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

I say 47-52 goals.

 

[BallardEra]

I'll take 50.

21 goals in 41 games to get there. That's a .512 goals per game pace.

In his last 6 seasons including this one he has scored 251 goals in 394 games. That's a .637 goals per game pace.

52.2 goal pace over 82 games.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

He's a lock for 50. 60 might be too far but you'd be a fool to bet against this guy.

 

[shtorm2005]

He's a lock for 50. 60 might be too far but you'd be a fool to bet against this guy.

 

[Voight]

Never forget people were writing his obituary in 2016/2017.

 

[MXD]

That's not how aging works. He'll hit 38, max.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Nope as soon as he scores number 59 he will die instantly

 

[ijuka]

Doubt it, but the chances are good for 50.

 

[SkinsFan09]

I don't think he hits 60 but a lot depends on whether Laviolette is dumb enough to break up Washington's top line when Backstrom is back.

That line is cruising right now.

 

[missingchicklet]

Never forget people were writing his obituary in 2016/2017.

Thank you! There have been a couple times in his career in which people have said he was ready to hit the wall, but instead he got better. Can he get 60 goals this season? Odds are he won't, but never bet against Ovi. Greatest goal scorer of all time gonna keep scoring goals. Russian machine doesn't break.