Ovechkin Shares Message With NHL's Top Goal Scorers, Including Leafs Captain Auston Matthews

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin had always been tabbed as the greatest goal scorer of our generation, but he was finally able to etch his name in the history books with an improbable chase this past season.

Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 career NHL goals looked to be as untouchable as many of his other records, but Ovechkin's relentless pursuit of #99's 894 now has him atop the leaderboard, and he is still adding to his total.

The Great 8 now looks to the newer generation of players, like Auston Matthews, and has a special message for any one of them that topples his record.

Ovechkin was extremely appreciative of Gretzky during his historic run and would love to pass the torch onto someone else, the same way The Great One did for him.

Matthews is currently 10th all-time amongst active players with 401 goals in just 629 games, ahead of Leon Draisaitl's 399 goals and David Pastrnak's 391 goals.

Had it not been for a few injury-riddled seasons, Matthews would be a little higher on the list, but the 3-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner might have the best chance of any active player to break the record.

Ovechkin's durability was an instrumental factor in his record chase as he only missed 30 games between 2005 and 2020, which was 4 less games than how many Matthews ended up missing between 2017 and 2019.

Nevertheless, Matthews is right on par with Ovechkin through their first 9 seasons in the league, where the former has 401 goals in 629 games compared to the latter's 422 goals in 679 games.

It's going to be interesting how the next few years shape out in the goal scoring department for Matthews and so many other young stars, but if there's one player that could come close, it's certainly the Maple Leafs captain.