When looking directly at his regular season numbers, Alex Ovechkin’s 2023-24 season features career lows (in a full season) of 31 goals and 65 points (tied with his 2011-12 season, somehow).
At 38 years old and with more than 1,400 games under his belt, the dip in production seemed inevitable, but how it happened was something few expected.
Ovi tends to be relatively consistent over the course of a season, with occasional scoring lulls made up by bursts of goals. This season, however, it was only the first half where he lagged behind.
With a career low of eight goals in his first 43 games, Ovi was suddenly off pace to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record before his contract expires.