Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has been impressed with the growth of Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin topped the list of the NHL's best-selling jerseys yet again, and he had some fun talking about it with reporters.
Ovechkin caught up with sports.ru about the feat, which he slyly pointed out has been accomplished in each of the last two seasons. Five different Ovechkin sweaters were featured during the season: the team's home and away jerseys, the "W" third sweaters, the 2023 Reverse Retros and the Stadium Series jersey, though he did not play in that game.
While discussing the accomplishment, he was also asked about his experience buying jerseys, and which NHL player's sweater he'd buy today. His response was quick.
"Of course, I would take Connor McDavid," he said.
Ovechkin has been a fan of watching the Edmonton Oilers captain, and at the 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend, spoke highly of him.
"He's from a different planet," Ovechkin noted.
The feeling is mutual for McDavid, who's spoken about Ovechkin's talent and has also spent time with Ovechkin's son, Sergei, gifting him a signed stick and taking a photo and skating with him at the All-Star Game.
"It’s exciting going up against one of the game’s all-time greats," McDavid said last March. "He’s obviously been a force in this league for a long time and is chasing down some pretty special players ahead of him. It’s fun to kind of watch from afar.
“He finds a way to produce. [Age] doesn’t seem to bother him much and he’s still moving great and shooting the puck like he always has. He’s still such a force out there. He doesn’t seem to be slowing down.”
In addition to sharing which jersey he'd buy today, Ovechkin reflected on his past jerseys, and how his favorite was the Barcelona shift he got from his late father, Mikhail.
"We were in Spain once when I was 12 years old, and we went to the market. I'm a fan of Barcelona. When Rivaldo played there... I asked my dad to buy it. He's like, 'Sash, well, it's expensive.' I'm like, 'Dad, it's Barcelona,'" the 37-year-old said.
Ovechkin's jerseys topped the charts, followed by Pittsburgh Penguins captain and rival Sidney Crosby, in a milestone year that saw him become the NHL's second all-time leading goal scorer and hit the 40-goal mark for the record-breaking 13th time. He sits at 822 goals, which is 74 away from Wayne Gretzky's all-time record. Three years are left on the five-year extension he inked with the Capitals in 2021.