Where should Alex Ovechkin rank on the all-time greatest players list?

Alex Ovechkin’s goal-scoring pace hasn’t been up to snuff early this season. He hasn’t gained significant ground on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record, but Ovi is approaching a major milestone. He needs just four points to become the 16^th player to score 1,500 in his career, slotting in right behind — who else? — Sidney Crosby.

Last year in the roundtable, we ranked Crosby on our all-time player list. Now let’s do it for Ovechkin.

Where do you rank Alex Ovechkin on your all-time player list?

MATT LARKIN: Fittingly, Alexander the GR8 is eighth for me, behind Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Lidstrom and Dominik Hasek, just ahead of Maurice Richard. Whether Ovechkin gets goal 895 someday or not, I consider him the greatest goal-scorer ever. No player has led the league in goals more times. When we factor in era adjustments, he lords above the pack even more. But he also earns points from me for his heavy physical game, his leadership and his incredible consistency and durability. On top of leading the league in goals nine times, he has placed top-10 a whopping 15 times. 

SCOTT MAXWELL: I’ll one-up Matt (or one-down him?) and say that he’s ninth. That includes the same eight players as Matt, but I’m also going to throw Jaromir Jagr in there because I think he deserves as much credit for the longevity of his career as Howe does. There’s maybe a few other ones, like do you want to put Mike Bossy in the conversation for the goal totals he put up in his brief career? Connor McDavid likely surpasses him once his career reaches the point that Ovi’s is at, and maybe even Auston Matthews puts up a fight for the title of best goal scorer once his career is done (big maybe though). But for now, I’ll say ninth because Ovechkin’s consistent goal-scoring ability (up until this season) puts him up there with the greats, especially when you adjust for the era of hockey he played in versus a lot of the other best players.

MIKE GOULD: Boy, oh boy. This one’s tough to answer. At the end of the day, I think you have to put Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Howe, and Jagr ahead of him. I also think Crosby needs to be there, too — as good as Ovechkin is and has been, Crosby has always been just a little bit ahead of him. And after Hasek and Lidstrom, there’s a huge drop down, for my money, to that next tier of guys like Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Phil Esposito, and so on. As tempted as I am to put Sakic ahead of Ovi, I’m going to copy Scott’s answer and put the Great 8 in ninth.

STEVEN ELLIS: This is easily the toughest question so far, I think. I hate ranking players, especially over different time periods. But for me, I’m going ninth– I know, creative. You’ve got Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, Orr, Jagr, Crosby, Hasek, Lidstrom and then Ovechkin. Truthfully, I only got to see Crosby and Ovechkin in his prime, but Ovi’s ability to produce at such a high rate during the most competitive era in NHL history is incredible. Plus, you look at his trophy case. A Stanley Cup. Nine Rocket Richards. An Art Ross. Three Hart Trophies. The Calder Trophy. The Conn Smythe. Three World Championships. A Gargarin Cup. Multiple records in IIHF events. He’s a beast.