Capitals reflect on Alex Ovechkin’s ‘incredible’ longevity ahead of 1,500th NHL game: ‘The guy’s just a machine, and he won’t change for anybody’

ARLINGTON — Six months after breaking the NHL’s all-time goals record, Alex Ovechkin is on the verge of another historic achievement.

Ovechkin is set to join a rarefied group on Saturday when he laces up his skates for his 1,500th game, becoming the 24th player in league history to reach the milestone.

“It’s pretty cool. Pretty special moment, obviously, for me and for my family,” Ovechkin said on Thursday. “Lucky enough to be able to play so many games for one team. It’s pretty cool.”

Among active players, only Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns has reached 1,500 games, hitting the milestone on October 11.

While the achievement won’t inspire the attention Ovechkin garnered when he broke the goal record last spring, he’s been open about how much he wants to reach 1,500 games. Even as he watched other players hit 1,000 games early in his career, he knew he wanted to join their ranks.

“Not many guys play a thousand games,” Ovechkin said. “And you can see, it gets harder and harder every year, to get a full year, because the game changed, lots of injuries, and you’re going to miss two or three games, and it’s going to cost you in the future if you want to make that number.”

He played his 1,000th game in April 2018, just two months before hoisting the Stanley Cup. Now, he’ll become part of an even more exclusive club.

Ovechkin’s reputation for resilience has taken on a life of its own, inspiring awe over his 21-year NHL career. He’s missed just 76 games since his debut, and just 51 of those have been injury-related, with his longest absence coming after he fractured his fibula last fall.

All the while, Ovechkin has eschewed the strict lifestyles of many of his peers: he’s enough of a regular at Subway to have it brought to his car and arrives at the team plane to find a six-pack of beer.

“He’s been himself every day since he came into the league, and whatever he’s doing is working.” said Tom Wilson. “There might be something to his lifestyle. They don’t make him like him anymore, that’s for sure. It’s hard to tell you guys about it. It’s one thing to talk about it. It’s one thing to see it on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s a ton of fun. He’s a bigger than life guy, and he’s got his ways. I’m not going to be the one to rat him out on that. The guy’s just a machine, and he won’t change for anybody. What he’s been able to do is truly incredible.”

Few players have stayed in the league as long as Ovechkin has, and even fewer have done so for a single team. Ovechkin will become just the eighth player to play 1,500 games with one franchise, and that connection to the city lends even more meaning to his milestone.

“I think it means a lot when you play for one organization,” said head coach Spencer Carbery. “There’s that loyalty component and also, you’ve done something at such a high level that the organization that you’re a part of has wanted you for so long and never shied away from that. I always think of players that have played whatever sport it is, and they play their entire career in one jersey is pretty cool, so to do that 1,500 all in a Caps jersey is pretty special.”

That decades-long tenure has left its mark on Washington, both inside and outside of the locker room. His rise to stardom has brought thousands of fans to the game, while his leadership has established a tight-knit culture among his teammates.

“It’s tough to sum it up in one answer, but what he’s done for this city, for this organization, you really can’t put it into words, the impact that he’s had and I think will be here forever,” Wilson said. “It’s been an honor to share a sweater with him on a lot of those nights. Just truly impressive. I think (he’s) a guy that as teammates, as friends, you’re always impressed and always in awe of what he’s able to accomplish, leads the way every night for us.”

Not only has Ovechkin kept playing into his 40s, but he’s been able to remain relevant as his career stretches into its third decade. Father Time has taken its toll, sure — Ovechkin’s speed has taken a step back, his last 50-goal season came in 2021-22, and he’s scored just once in the first seven games of the 2025-26 campaign. But even despite missing 17 games to injury last season, he still scored 44 goals, ranking third in the league behind players a decade his junior.

Dylan Strome has spent much of the past four seasons with Ovechkin on his wing, and he’s still amazed by what he sees.

“The way he plays, and the way he is able to continually do it on a nightly basis, is something that I think needs to be studied,” he said. “And the way he can find a way to just create something out of nothing is incredible. And when things aren’t going well in a game, he’s the one to find a way to make a hit or create a great chance. So I think it’s impressive to watch over this long, and I’m really happy for him.”

Carbery noted that Ovechkin’s style of play, in particular, is especially well-suited to a long career, relying on skills that tend not to diminish as much with age. While fast skaters slow down over time, Ovechkin’s shot and his brain have both endured.

“His shot and his ability to score, but also just to be such an intelligent offensive player and to find spots, he’s always been effective. He hasn’t relied on something that’s deteriorated. What do I mean by that? A lot of guys rely on their skating, right? Elite skaters. Well in year 15 it starts to go (down). So now all of a sudden, for lack of a better term, their money maker starts to (decline).

“Where O, has his shot got any worse from year 1 to year 20? I mean there’s a strong argument, no. He is still able to — is he finding space? What he does at a world-class level is find space, knows where the puck’s going, great offensive instincts. Has that dropped off from year 1 to year 20? Not really to me. And so that’s where you talk about longevity and his ability to survive and thrive at his age, that’s a huge part of it.”

Strome, when asked about Ovechkin’s endurance, offered a simpler explanation.

“No one has more fun than Ovi,” he said. “He has fun at the rink. He has fun on the plane. He has fun in the dressing room. He has fun on the ice and games. He has fun when he’s on the bench, fun in the trainer’s room. He’s a guy that enjoys life, and people want to be around him. And when you have that and people want to be around you and you keep other people happy, you stick around places for a long time. I think there’s no better example of that than Ovi. And I think there’s a reason why he’s played this long.”

Ovechkin could make even more history when he takes the ice on Saturday. After scoring his first goal of the season on Friday against the Minnesota Wild, he now sits just two away away from 900, an unprecedented mark Strome hopes he can hit on his milestone night.

“I know he’s excited for it,” Strome said of Saturday’s game. “And hopefully we can get two more — 900 and 1,500 games will be a nice little (combination).”