MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Canadian hockey legend Phil Esposito told TASS on Tuesday that superstar Russian ice hockey forward Alexander Ovechkin is "the greatest goal-scorer of all time."

On March 22, Washington Capitals Captain Ovechkin, 40, scored his 1,000th career NHL goal (in regular season and playoff matches combined) against the Colorado Avalanche. The record for the most goals belongs to Canada’s Wayne Gretzky with 1,016.

Reached by a TASS correspondent and asked to comment on the Russian player’s milestone goal, Esposito, who was a six-time NHL regular season scoring champ himself, said: "I didn’t even know that but he is the greatest goal scorer. That’s all I’m going to say."

"There is nothing more to say. The guy is great, he is a great player," Esposito, 84, continued. "Nobody ever thought that anybody would break Gretzky’s goal-scoring record and Ovechkin did."

"Gretzky broke my record of 76 goals in the season [set by Esposito in the 1970/1971 season and beat by Gretzky in February 1982]. I was the first person to do it and Alex [Ovechkin] is the greatest goal-scorer of all time and that’s where it should be because he is," Esposito added.

On April 6, 2025, Ovechkin scored his 895th career regular season goal in a game against the New York Islanders, passing legend Wayne Gretzky for most all-time (894 goals).

And now, the Russian player is within reach of Gretzky’s combined regular season and playoff goals record, once thought untouchable. He’s just 16 away from tying the Great One’s 1,016 goals (894 in regular season and 122 in playoffs).

Appearing in 61 NHL games last season, Ovechkin scored 42 goals and dished out 27 assists for the Washington Capitals. Despite missing 16 games with a broken leg, he was tied for the third-most goals in the NHL.

Ovechkin is signed with the Washington Capitals through 2026. The Russian forward has played his entire NHL career with the Washington Capitals, who selected him with the 1st overall pick in the 2004 draft. Ovechkin led the Caps to a Stanley Cup title in 2018, the only one of his career, and the only one in the club's history.

In 2008, 2012 and 2014, "Ovie," as he is called by his fans, won gold medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships to go along with his two silver and four bronze medals at the world championships.

Ovechkin has won a slew of NHL awards in his career, including the Calder Memorial Trophy (2006), Art Ross Trophy (2008), Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020), Hart Memorial Trophy (2008, 2009, 2013), Lester B. Pearson Award/Ted Lindsay Award (2008, 2009, 2010), Conn Smythe Trophy (2018) and others.