Alex Ovechkin on Pace to Pass Nicklas Backstrom as Caps All-Time Assists Leader

Ovi and Backstrom in 2020 (Caps Outsider)

Don’t look now, but Alex Ovechkin might be getting another team record by the end of this season.

Ever since Nicklas Backstrom passed Michal Pivonka with his 419th career assist in 2015, he has held and improved on the the team record, finishing with 762 before his career ended prematurely in 2023. While both Ovechkin and John Carlson have since also passed Pivonka, they had been hundreds of assists behind Backstrom while playing alongside him.

With 401 more games played than Backstrom, and with 7 in 15 games, Ovechkin now has 733 career assists, only 29 behind Backstrom’s mark. While Ovi probably isn’t consciously chasing this record (unlike certain other milestones), it will be one of just a couple of his records he earned due to longevity. He’s not the only one, though, as Sidney Crosby just passed Mario Lemieux for most regular season and playoff points combined for the Pittsburgh Penguins – in about 450 extra games.

Record or not, Backstrom will always be known as a superior passer than Ovechkin, but his name falling out of the team record book will be unfortunate. While Caps fans will always cherish Backstrom’s accomplishments, the greater NHL just might forgot the importance of Backstrom, especially as his name – currently at No. 45 on the league’s all-time assist leaders list – gets passed by superior players.

It’s not uncommon for some team, or even NHL records to be held by great players who stick around longer than those better in those categories. In the who-is-better discussions, folks point to per-game averages, aka the invisible asterisks on the best-of lists. But Backstrom doesn’t lead the Caps there, either, as Adam Oates had averaged 0.79 assists a game to Backstrom’s 0.69. Meanwhile, Ovi is in 13th place with 0.49 a game, even behind Carlson, who has .52 a game with 577 career assists. The Caps’ all-time leader in assists in a season? Dennis Maruk, with 76.

For years, Caps pundits have made the case that Ovi is an underrated passer (though he had some notable slumps). And while he’s shown flashes of brilliance, and his 0.49 assists per game average is notable, it’s not worth much more than a ‘Caps all-time assist leader’ plaque hanging on a wall at Capital One Arena.

Backstrom, meanwhile, won’t be forgotten in Washington, as he led the team in assists a record eight separate seasons, but this will be one of his only notable team records.

Caps’ all-time assist leaders:

Here are the Caps’ assists leaders per season: