The Washington Capitals captain has made no secret about his ambition to be one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the game. This ambition may not have been his initial ambition as a junior playing hockey in his native Russia and dreaming of making it into the NHL. Then, he only dreamed of playing the game he loved so much.

In an interview with Sports Express, Ovechkin reflected on those early years. “If we talk about who I eventually became, then in childhood there were only hopes and dreams. I just wanted to play hockey and get into the NHL someday,” he said.

“Prove that I can achieve something serious. In the end, everything turned out well for me, and I am grateful to fate, my parents and coaches for the fact that they believed in me and invested a lot.”

Since realising his childhood dream of playing in the NHL, upon being drafted first overall in 2004, Ovechkin quickly emerged as one of the most exciting, charismatic and thrilling players to watch, not to mention a goal-scoring machine. Over the years, he’s shown exceptional leadership and loyalty to the club that drafted him and, in turn, that has endeared him to Capitals fans and neutrals alike.

However, arguably, his greatest legacy for the city of Washington is winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, which marked the franchise’s first ever hockey championship title. And there’s nothing he’d love to do more in the immediate future than win another Stanley Cup though – a feat that bettors can stay tuned with nhl picks on the Capitals this season, although the Capitals aren’t amongst the top faves.

Fast forward to today, and Ovechkin has surpassed his boyhood dream of just playing the game he loves. He’s achieved most of NHL’s top accolades, including winning the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. But most importantly of all, he’s taken nothing for granted with his generosity of spirit and a commitment to philanthropic work off the ice in both the United States and Russia that make him an unofficial ambassador of the sport and that kids everywhere look up to.

Ovechkin started his career with the Capitals over 16 years ago as a fresh-faced teenage kid with big dreams. Today, at the age of 35, he’s flush off signing an extension with the Capitals – a five-year deal worth 47.5 million that is likely to keep the Russian superstar firmly ensconced in the nation’s capital for the next five years. Ovechkin, who became a free agent this year, showed no interest to play for any other team.

According to NHL insiders, it was always going to be the Washington Capitals where he reached the pinnacle of the NHL. Happily, the franchise felt the same way and extended a new deal to their Russian star.

“Alex is a world-class athlete who will forever be regarded not only for leading the team to achieve our ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup, but also for inspiring the next generation of fans and youth players," said Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis in his statement.

“The impact Alex has had on hockey in D.C. extends well beyond Capital One Arena. His performance on the ice has undoubtedly sparked countless new fans of the game and inspired more youth players to lace up skates of their own."

Whether Ovechkin decides to play into his 40s like Czech star Jaromir Jagr or compatriot Dominik Hasek or Finland’s Teemu Selanne, to name a few, remains to be seen. Nowadays, athletes are increasingly playing into their 40s in a variety of sports and proving age is merely a number that doesn’t define their ability, talent, skill or competitiveness. One of the best current examples of an active 40-something year-old player is Tom Brady, who at 44 years of age is not only playing the sport he loves so much, but he’s also winning Super Bowls in his 40s.

Why Ovechkin might be motivated to play into this 40s is to chase Wayne Gretzky’s record goal tally. As things currently stand, Ovechkin is fourth in the standings behind Jaromir Jagr, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky.

The legendary Canadian has the NHL record with 894 goals in his career, surpassing former record-holder and his idol Gordie Howe, who scored 801 goals in his decorated career. Jaromir Jagr, who is third in the standings with 766 goals in the NHL, is the only player to have played in this century that came closest to both Howe and Gretzky.

Closing did allude to the prospect of closing the gap on Gretzky as motivation. "That's why I wanna play five more years," Ovechkin said, as per Andrew Gillis of NBC Sports Washington. "To have a chance to catch the Great One, why not?"

He added that even second place though wouldn’t be bad either, should he not surpass Gretzky. “If I’m gonna be second, you know it’s a pretty good number as well,” added Ovechkin.