Do you think Ovechkin's legacy will improve over time?

[Plural]

Well there might have been a few people dismissing him all together but he made the vast majority of people's at least top3 ever even before the WC. I argued for him being the GOAT of all team sports here on hfboards even before he won the cup.

I'd say most included him as a contender for the Goat. But a there always was a portion of people saying he can't be unless he wins the Cup. Those people exist in all sport fans and even if we don't agree with them, it's not like their opinion is somehow invalid. It's an opinion on subjective listing.

 

[filinski77]

The problem with him is that since they won the NHL Cup (that`s pushing ten years) there is this perception that the only purpose of his career is to break that record. His entire, or even the team`s effort go in that direction. Everything else is a foot note at best.
His records doesn`t happen in a "natural way" at least that`s what it feel like. People don`t like that type of cheryy picking record chasing.
Nobody has ever felt that Gretzky kept on playing in the 90s to chase records, it was just a byproduct of his play.
That``s wey I don`t think that Ovechkin`s legacy will grow. Hos greatness is based on his sensational, outstanding play from 05-10- Not on his stat chasing in the last 10 years of his career. And people always remeber first what happened last.

But that perception is completely wrong. If a handful of misinformed (or biased haters) fans feel that way, it doesn't make it reality.

Ovechkin has been a great player since the cup. He's not out here compiling 30 goal seasons and finishing 90th in points year-in, year-out.

Age	Points Rank	Goals Rank
39​	11th	1st
38​	72nd	36th
37​	40th (32nd)	9th (9th/gp)
36​	16th	4th
35​	64th (27th /gp)	13th (8th/gp)
34​	18th	1st
33​	15th	1st

Ovechkin has accumulated still some of the best totals in the league over that span since the cup. He has not been record chasing anything.
Despite being aged 33 to 39 in this timeline, he's still 23rd in points and 4th in goals since 2018/2019. Only 1 goal behind 3rd, and 30 points behind 12th.

The Capitals only goal since the cup was not solely to only help him get the record.
Ovechkin has still been year-in, year-out the best (or one of the best) players on that team. The Caps have made the playoffs EVERY year except for one. The Caps have made a 1st round draft pick every year (except for 1) from 2018 to 2024, The Caps have made 8 2nd round draft picks in the last 7 years. And the Caps have a great prospect pool and set of young NHLers while also being a top team this year,

So I repeat - people can say that there is that perception, but the actual facts and stats will say the complete and utter opposite.