- Evgeny Kuznetsov wants Alex Ovechkin to chase 1,000 regular-season goals
- Ovechkin sits at 929 after a 32-goal season, 71 short of the number
- Read below for Kuznetsov’s full quote and what 1,000 would actually take
Evgeny Kuznetsov has a number in mind for his old teammate, and it is a big one.
Kuznetsov was asked about Alex Ovechkin re-signing with the Capitals in an interview with Sila Sporta, and he took the question somewhere bigger. He wants Ovechkin to keep going until he scores 1,000 regular-season goals.
“Of course, I’m expecting Ovechkin to set another record. How far is it to a thousand? Around 70, I think.”
There was more.
“It sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? It would be a real story, a record that’s unlikely to be broken by anyone.”
His math is close. Ovechkin scored 32 times last season and sits at 929 career regular-season goals, which leaves him 71 away.
Getting there is the hard part. Ovechkin has scored at a 0.59 goals-per-game clip across his career, so 71 more at that rate takes roughly 120 additional games. That means at least two more seasons after this one, or a scoring pace in his 40s that he has not touched in years. We ran the full math on 1,000 if you want the year-by-year version.
In July, Ovechkin signed a one-year deal to come back for a 22nd season instead of retiring. He has since said he does not know whether this will be his last year in Washington.
Throw in the playoffs and he is already at 1,006 goals, 10 behind Wayne Gretzky’s combined mark of 1,016. He got to four figures last March against Colorado on a power play.
Kuznetsov has more skin in this than most. He assisted on 110 Ovechkin goals, third-most of anyone behind Nicklas Backstrom at 279 and John Carlson at 158.
The 34-year-old has been back in the KHL since 2024-25 and is playing for Sibir Novosibirsk this season. He opened his run there by scoring his 100th career KHL goal, regular season and playoffs combined, in his debut:
Ovechkin is under contract for one more year. Whether the 1,000 chase gets a real runway comes down to what he decides next summer.
