For anyone else, 69 points would make for a nice season. But Alex Ovechkin isn’t anyone else, he’s the Russian machine, dammit. Is he finally starting to rust?
By The Numbers
| 82 | games played |
| 18:22 | time on ice per game |
| 33 | goals |
| 36 | assists |
| 51.8 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage, adjusted |
| 58.8 | 5-on-5 goal percentage, adjusted |
Visualization by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows various metrics for the player over the course of the 2016-17 season. A short description of each chart:
- Most common teammates during 5-on-5
- Ice time per game, split up by game state
- 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- Individual scoring events by the player
- 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts
Peter’s Take
I used to do a bit in these reviews where I’d offer nuanced criticism for Ovi’s tactics, deployment, and future prospects, but then crush that criticism under big block letters touting his goal total. Well, that goal total shaved off a full third since last season, so what do we do now?
I suppose we start with appreciation. For the three season before this one, Alex Ovechkin scored goals like he were still practically 23 years old. Once he proved that he would outlast the franchise’s deliberate retreat from creative hockey between 2011 and 2014, the team relented, and Ovi finally got to be Ovi again. He Ovi scored 50 goals a season; eight became great again.
That greatness was measured in goals, but it was fed by shot volume. Now fully a silver fox at the ripe old age of 31-going-on-32, Ovechkin’s volume has been turned down just a tad. His shot generation during 5-on-5 is now just north of 20 attempts per hour, ten of which are on net – a 15-20 percent drop-off from recent seasons. And while he’s still one of the very best shooters in the NHL, he’s no longer head and shoulders above the pack.
That’s Ovi vs the 100 most prolific shooting forwards over the last four seasons
What distinguished Ovechkin was moarness, and now that moarness is vanishing. Pair that with his diminished ice time – he played 100 fewer minutes this season – and we’re suddenly in a new reality: Alex Ovechkin, while still a very special player, can no longer be the primary engine of the Washington offense. The dictates of the aging curve now make it mandatory that the Caps increasingly score by committee. That will require others to step up (Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov especially), but it’ll also ask more of Ovechkin than ever before. Can Ovi get 40 assists in a season in his thirties, when he’s no longer the most explosive skater on the ice? Because that’s what the Caps will need from him in 2017-18.
Oh, that and power-play goals, which Ovi will still score a bunch of, because he’ll be a goddamn terror there for years to come.
Ovi on RMNB
- It started how it ended. Kind of like Lost and just as unsatisfying.
- On a brighter note, this bobblehead was the single best piece of Caps merch this year.
Just another day at the office 🚨 @ovi8 #CapsAvs on @CSNMA pic.twitter.com/d5rxBXNKZI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 18, 2016
- Ovi was the odd-on fave to win the Rocket Richard. He did not. The winner was 14/1 to won. That guy also won the Cup, the Conn Smythe, the Hart probably, and Powerball. Let’s go deeper.
- They became fast friends at the ASG. They played on the same line and were horrible together, though they did exchange apples on one another’s grapes.
- Are we still pretending this was water?
- Here’s a take: Ovi = the Caps power play. Scintillating and provocative take. Discuss.
- Why do they keep letting him do this? Honestly, guys.
- Kicking it with Ann again.
- It doesn’t matter who Ovi’s center is. (As long as it’s not Beagle.) The real problem was Alzner.
- Here are some important Ovi quotes I’ve collected for you; please support our Patreon.
- Any excuse to use the Burakovsky-Ovi hug photo.
- Any excuse to write about Andre and Alex in general really.
- The Olympics beat.
- Ted’s cool if he goes.
- Ovi thought the NHL was bluffing.
- Hockey Russia guy talks big game, but c’mon.
- Gary says it’s not happening, but Ovi’s going anyway.
- The dog beat.
- On November 23, Alex Ovechkin scored his 16th career hat trick. He was tied for the most since 1995-96… until he got another on March 28. (That one was all PPGs.)
The culture beat follows.
- Letting the beat drop at Echostage.
- Racking up a brutal k:d at Call of Duty. (It’s probably how he spent his Turkey day.)
- Mocking the criminal justice complex. (He sang karaoke.)
- Named the ambassador to the corruption f#$%fest that is the 2018 World Cup.
- The Papa John’s Pizza commercial! (La-dee-da, he’s just casually amazing with a hockey stick.) Ian went behind the scenes of the shoot and came back with some great material.
- In a Beats by Dre commercial. Actually, two Beats by Dre commercials.
- Who is Miles Wood?
- It’s the capital S, oh yes, the fresh N-double O-P D-O-double G-Y D-O-double G ya’ see.
- Debating fashion with BL21.
- Fatima and Ovi! What a great story with those two, with the puck drop and everything. and how great was this selfie photo with Ovi and Zetterberg?
- Whatever Tatler is.
- Shopping at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
- This was the year that Ovi finally got old. (Though, surprisingly, the person at left is not Ovi; I’m sorry for the fraud). Man, between the “Ovi got old” post and this “Ovi’s defense is getting worse” article, I was really a ray of sunshine this year.
- But don’t worry: Trotz has a miracle cure for aging. (JK, he put Beagle at Ovi’s center.)
- But for real, Ovi’s ice time plummeted this season (which Alan May did not like come the postseason, but Barry took the blame). Ovi’s shot rate dropped too. Hrmmm.
- Perhaps it was related to a mysterious ‘body’ injury?
- Or perhaps Ovi’s 50 PIMs (third on the team behind Wilson and Orlov) were a cause.
- But even if he was on the decline, he still had amazing breakout nights in which he’d rack up double-digit shots and then score.
- Just three dudes.
- Ovi passed Stan Mikita in career goals, then he passed Maurice “Rocket” Richard. He smoked Lanny McDonald. Eat his dust, Michel Goulet. Peace out, Ron Francis. Take a hike, Joe Sakic.
- Until this season, Ovi had never gone more than six games without a goal. He went a career-long streak with a goal, but then – get this – then he scored.
- Did you know that Ovi was a Sharks fan growing up?
- In his defense, bench rails are really slippery. Probably. I have no idea.
- Ovi tied and then surpassed Wayne Gretzky in game-winning goals (and power-play goals).
- Are you fan who has been injured by a wild puck? Quick! Put a towel on it!
- Hey, here’s a dumb penalty, but here’s a genius way to avoid a dumb penalty.
- Ovi was nearly suspended for this hit.
- And now, a jam from Young Planet.
- Someone explain this, gosh darn it.
- Point 1,000 was scored one minute into a game on 1/11. The video tribute was delicious. Wes Johnson’s goal call was stirring. Old teammates came out of the woodwork to say congrats – even Feds!. But he wasn’t done– 1,001 followed soon after. The celebration was lovely, but Caps superfan Charlie McManus giving Mikhail his shirt was even better.
- Nazem Kadri didn’t take Ovi out of the playoffs, but he sure tried. About the near-injury, Braden Holtby said of Ovi, “There’s a website named after him for a reason.”
- After the Kadri hit, Ovi just chilled in the locker room and drank .
- The Cup champions thought Ovi deliberately aimed a shot for Ron Hainsey’s head; they’re so dumb.
- Ovi eventually did get banged up pretty bad – reportedly knee and hamstring injuries – but he played through it. Here’s when Ian thinks the injury occurred.
And now, Ovi doing Ovi things.
- Like this bump pass.
- Or the time he ate two players to Nicky could score.
- Or the time he committed hockey murder on Jake Gardiner.
Good times.
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Your Turn
If Ovechkin is indeed slipping on the aging curve, what changes — if any — should the team make? Reduced ice time? Does Ovi become a PP specialist with lighter 5-on-5 duties? Should Trotz shelter him?
Read more: Japers’ Rink, Stars and Sticks
Headline photo: Amanda Bowen
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