Here's how Ovechkin's goal-scoring stacks up by age:
[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]
Age[/TD]
[TD]
Rank[/TD]
[TD]
Notes[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
20
[/TD]
[TD]5th[/TD]
[TD]Behind - Gretzky, Simpson, Bossy Larouche[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
21
[/TD]
[TD]T-20th[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
22
[/TD]
[TD]4th[/TD]
[TD]Behind - Gretzky, Selanne, Lemieux[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
23
[/TD]
[TD]T-8th[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
24
[/TD]
[TD]T-20th[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
25
[/TD]
[TD]Out of top 50[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
26
[/TD]
[TD]Out of top 50[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
27
[/TD]
[TD]Out of top 50[/TD]
[TD]Lockout-shortened season (on pace for around 7th)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
28
[/TD]
[TD]T-9th[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
29
[/TD]
[TD]9th[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
30
[/TD]
[TD]T-6th[/TD]
[TD]Behind - Lemieux, Esposito, Andreychuk, Pronovost, Kreider[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
31
[/TD]
[TD]T-39th[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
32
[/TD]
[TD]3rd[/TD]
[TD]Behind - Esposito, Hull[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
33
[/TD]
[TD]2nd[/TD]
[TD]Behind - Jagr[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
34
[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]Leader depite it being COVID-shortened season[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
35
[/TD]
[TD]T-48th[/TD]
[TD]COVID-shortened season, on pace for around 10th[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
36
[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
37
[/TD]
[TD]TBD[/TD]
[TD]Bucyk 1st with 40, Sakic 2nd with 36[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Ovechkin is "only" the leader twice. But his consistency is incredible (ten years placing in the top ten). He missed out on two years where he was likely to be in the top for his age (2013 and 2021) due to shortened seasons (lockout and COVID). And none of these numbers are adjusted for era (a few players - like Howe and Hull - would sometimes pass Ovechkin, but Ovechkin would almost certainly jump ahead of more players if the numbers were adjusted).