Alex Ovechkin's 2024-25 season report card

And as with gravity, charts and graphs do not fully do the superstar Ovechkin justice; in fact, they take away from that which he does better than anyone else on the planet - score goals.

The 39 year-old scored 44 goals in 65 games played, adding 29 assists while playing 18 minutes per game. Ovi had 49% shot attempts, 45% expected goals, and 59% actual goals.

The key to just beginning to understand Ovechkin's value is to chart what he does compared to what he's expected to do, and in every case, that is always more, even when expectations are universally high.

When we look at a graph of Ovechkin's actual goals scored over the course of his 20-year career, we see that his goal scoring has been consistently above league average, except for 2013-14 and 2023-24, and even then he scored 32 and 31 goals respectively.

Our expectation for Ovechkin to score goals is other-worldly. He has consistently improved Washington's play and brand of hockcey, regardless of goaltending, shots against, or any other factor that impact a game; when Ovi's on the ice, the Washington Capitals are better.

As per Player Overview by NHL Edge, Ovi ranked in the 99 percentile in scoring, shots on goal 96, total shot speed 99, and shooting percentage 91.

Ovechkin's only real liabilities are his speed and defensive play. Every available statistic shows this, and some emphasize it. Yet, these have not affected his ability to score goals better than any other player in the history of the game. You can shape his stats any way you like, it doesn't change the fact that his goals contribute to winning games.

According to a Fan Happiness Survey, where RMNB asked readers, On a scale of 1-5, how happy are you to have this player on your team, Ovi scored a 4.9. Perhaps the missing 0.1 has to do with his speed. After all, Ovechkin is only human...I think.