Nicklas Backstrom will hit another career milestone with the Capitals when they take on the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Backstrom will become the second player from his 2006 draft class to hit the 900 game mark, with only the Arizona Coyotes’ Phil Kessel ahead of him, with 996 games under his belt.

Backstrom will also become the fifth Capital to play 900 games or more with the franchise, joining Alex Ovechkin, Calle Johansson, Peter Bondra, and Kelly Miller.

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You’re the absolute best, Nicky. Congrats on 900 @NHL games! #Nicky900 #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/vr7OwHSunm

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 10, 2019

Backstrom’s NHL debut came against the Atlanta Thrashers at the Philips Arena on October 5, 2007. He also tallied his first career NHL point in that game with an assist on a Michael Nylander goal.

HERE HE IS! The Super Swede. Number 19. Mr. 900!!@VogsCaps caught up with @backstrom19 before #CapsPreds, which will be his 900th game in the NHL. Time flies!#ALLCAPS #Backy900 pic.twitter.com/yihdV7wIJX

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 10, 2019

“It’s very special, obviously,” Backstrom said to Mike Vogel, about his first-ever NHL game. “So much nerves and emotional involved in that game. It’s very special. But I still feel that same emotional and nerves before every game. I think that’s a good thing. That’s never going to go away, I think.”

Over the course of his career with the Capitals, Backstrom has hit several huge moments, including becoming the first player from his draft class to tally over 600 assists in 2018.

With Backstrom’s current contract due to expire at the end of the 2019-20 season, much of the conversation has been centered around whether or not he will re-sign with Washington and hit a few more career milestones with the team.

We can’t help but hope that that will be the case!

More from the Capitals:

On Thursday against the Nashville Predators, Nicklas Backstrom will play in his 900th career game, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to reach the milestone. Backstrom will also become the second player from his 2006 NHL Draft class to reach the 900 game mark (Phil Kessel: 998 games played). Backstrom’s 876 career points (232g, 644a) leads his draft class, as does his 644 career assists. Since his rookie season in 2007-08, his 644 assists rank first in the NHL. He’s the only player in the NHL to record at least 50 assists in each of the last six seasons and one of 26 players all-time to string together six consecutive 50-assist seasons. Of the 25 other players to accomplish this feat, 23 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the other two players (Joe Thornton and Henrik Sedin) are not yet eligible. Backstrom, who collected two points (1g, 1a) against Dallas last night, recorded his first multi-point game of the season and 234th of his career. Backstrom is now five assists shy of passing Daniel Sedin (648) for the fifth-most assists among Swedish-born players and 10 points shy of passing Peter Forsberg (885) for the seventh-most points by a Swedish-born player in NHL history.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong