MOSCOW, July 4 Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin approved the National Hockey League (NHL) club's efforts in the transfer market to help it break Wayne Gretzky's record, the Washington Times reports.
Ovechkin is in second place on the list of the best snipers in NHL history; the 38-year-old Russian has 853 goals in the regular season. To surpass the record of Canadian Wayne Gretzky (894), the Russian forward needs to score 42 more goals.
According to the publication, Washington general manager Brian McLellan received a thumbs-up message from Ovechkin as a sign of approval for the addition of forward Pierre-Luc Dubois to the team. Also, the capital club strengthened in the off-season with goalkeeper Logan Thompson and defender Jacob Chickran.
«»We analyzed the results of last season. And we realized that we need to get better, we need to improve. For Ovi too. I mean, last year there was a lot of pressure on Ovechkin because we didn't have enough depth in the lineup “I hope a stronger team will support him in the new season,” McLellan said.
Ovechkin was selected by Washington with the first pick in the 2004 NHL draft and has been playing for the capital club ever since. The Russian won the Stanley Cup in 2018. Last season, the capital's team made it to the NHL playoffs from eighth place in the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season, but lost the 1/8 finals of the Stanley Cup to the New York Rangers with a total score of 0-4.