Somewhere, someone was talking about durability. Here's how Ovechkin ranks (as of today - November 10th, 2024) among players during their first 20 seasons (games played divided by games on the schedule):
[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]
Players[/TD]
[TD]
Games[/TD]
[TD]
Max[/TD]
[TD]
Percentage[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Larry Murphy[/TD]
[TD]1,558[/TD]
[TD]1,586[/TD]
[TD]
98.2%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Patrick Marleau[/TD]
[TD]1,575[/TD]
[TD]1,606[/TD]
[TD]
98.1%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nicklas Lidstrom[/TD]
[TD]1,564[/TD]
[TD]1,608[/TD]
[TD]
97.3%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jaroma Iginla[/TD]
[TD]1,554[/TD]
[TD]1,606[/TD]
[TD]
96.8%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Alex Ovechkin[/TD]
[TD]1,440[/TD]
[TD]1,499[/TD]
[TD]
96.1%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Scott Stevens[/TD]
[TD]1,516[/TD]
[TD]1,590[/TD]
[TD]
95.3%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wayne Gretzky[/TD]
[TD]1,487[/TD]
[TD]1,584[/TD]
[TD]
93.9%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ron Francis[/TD]
[TD]1,489[/TD]
[TD]1,588[/TD]
[TD]
93.8%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jaromir Jagr[/TD]
[TD]1,473[/TD]
[TD]1,572[/TD]
[TD]
93.7%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brendan Shanahan[/TD]
[TD]1,490[/TD]
[TD]1,600[/TD]
[TD]
93.1%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mark Recchi[/TD]
[TD]1,490[/TD]
[TD]1,602[/TD]
[TD]
93.0%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Joe Thornton[/TD]
[TD]1,493[/TD]
[TD]1,606[/TD]
[TD]
93.0%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Doug Gilmour[/TD]
[TD]1,474[/TD]
[TD]1,592[/TD]
[TD]
92.6%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rod Brind'Amour[/TD]
[TD]1,484[/TD]
[TD]1,604[/TD]
[TD]
92.5%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stan Mikita[/TD]
[TD]1,376[/TD]
[TD]1,498[/TD]
[TD]
91.9%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ray Bourque[/TD]
[TD]1,453[/TD]
[TD]1,584[/TD]
[TD]
91.7%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Shane Doan[/TD]
[TD]1,466[/TD]
[TD]1,606[/TD]
[TD]
91.3%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Glen Wesley[/TD]
[TD]1,457[/TD]
[TD]1,600[/TD]
[TD]
91.1%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mike Modano[/TD]
[TD]1,459[/TD]
[TD]1,604[/TD]
[TD]
91.0%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dave Andreycchuk[/TD]
[TD]1,443[/TD]
[TD]1,590[/TD]
[TD]
90.8%
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
It's an interesting mix. You have some power forwards (Ovechkin, Iginla, Shanahan, Doan, half of Mikita's career). Forwards who aren't huge hitters, but are good two-way players (Gilmour, Francis, Modano). Excellent two-way defensemen (Bourque, Lidstrom, Stevens). A few forwards who are big and strong, but not aggressive (Jagr, Thornton). There's only one player who I'd say is relatively soft (Marleau).
Note - I haven't filtered out "false starts". So Chris Chelios's 12 games in 1985 counts against him. I don't have any way to calculate this though.
(EDIT - I just realized the database I pulled this from only starts in 1960, and stops at 2020 - except for Ovechkin, who I calculated manually since we're mid-season. So there are a few players missing - Gordie Howe being the most obvious. I just calculated he's at 97.0%, which would rank him 4th here. In any event, this table covers six decades, and presumably highlights just how rare Ovechkin's durability has been).