Alexander Ovechkin

Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin (Russian: Алексaндр Михайлович Овечкин, romanized: Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Ovechkin, pronounced [ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn]; born 17 September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey player who is a left winger and captain for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "the Great 8" (in reference to his jersey number) and "Ovi", as well as "Alexander the Great" (Russian: Александр Великий) by Russian media, Ovechkin has scored the most career goals in NHL regular season history, and is the only player in NHL history to have scored 900 regular season goals.

Ovechkin began his professional career with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague in 2001, playing there for four seasons. Ovechkin was selected by the Capitals first overall in the 2004 NHL entry draft. In the 2005–06 season, Ovechkin captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year and finished third overall in league scoring.

Ovechkin has won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer a record nine times and been runner-up once. He holds the NHL record for most 40-goal seasons with fourteen, and shares with Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky the record for most 50-goal campaigns with nine. He is the only player to have tallied 200 or more goals in three different decades, with 245 in the 2000s, 437 in the 2010s, and 247 in the 2020s. He also holds multiple other NHL records, including the most power play goals, most goals in away games, most overtime goals, most game-winning goals, most individual goalies scored upon, and most goals with one team.