Ovechkin Returns to San Jose: A Living Legend Meets the Sharks’ Future
When the puck drops Wednesday night at SAP Center, it won’t just be another regular-season tilt between the San Jose Sharks and the Washington Capitals. It’ll be a rare-and possibly final-chance for Sharks fans to see the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, Alex Ovechkin, skate in San Jose.
And across the ice from him? A 20-year-old rising star in Will Smith, who’s already making waves in his sophomore season with 12 goals under his belt. Two players, two generations, each with a dozen goals this year-but separated by two decades of hockey history.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Smith said of the 40-year-old Ovechkin, who now sits at a jaw-dropping 909 career goals. “Being that age, being able to score that many goals, and especially in his career, it’s pretty crazy, and it’s cool to see.”
Smith’s awe is understandable. Ovechkin isn’t just still playing-he’s still producing.
After a quiet start to the season with just two goals in his first 12 games, Ovechkin has caught fire, racking up 10 goals and 20 points over his last 15. That’s top-15 production league-wide over that stretch.
Not bad for a guy who’s been in the league longer than some of his opponents have been alive.
One More Lap Around the Tank?
There’s a very real possibility this could be Ovechkin’s last appearance in San Jose-unless, of course, the Sharks and Capitals somehow meet in the Stanley Cup Final. The Caps make just one trip to the Bay Area each season, and Ovechkin is in the final year of a five-year, $47.5 million contract. He hasn’t announced any retirement plans, but he hasn’t committed to playing beyond this season either.
“I just take day by day,” Ovechkin said back in October. “You have to have fun, you have to enjoy yourself, and try to do it as best as you can.”
That mindset has served him well. Last season, he tallied 44 goals-tied for third-most in the league-and officially passed Wayne Gretzky’s once-unbreakable record of 894 career goals.
Since entering the league, Ovechkin has hit the 50-goal mark nine times and has never dipped below 31 goals in a full season, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign. He’s won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy nine times.
That’s not just dominance-that’s redefining what longevity and consistency look like in the NHL.
Sharks Take Notice
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, a close friend of Capitals bench boss Spencer Carbery, knows what kind of show Ovechkin can put on.
“It’s truly amazing,” Warsofsky said. “I watch their games quite often, and it seems like every time you turn it on, Ovechkin is scoring.”
He’s not wrong. When the Capitals rolled into San Jose last March, Ovechkin lit the lamp again-his 34th of the season and 887th of his career-en route to a 5-1 win over the Sharks.
“Last year was something fun to watch him chasing and then breaking the record,” said Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli, who’s nearing a milestone of his own with 297 career goals. “We were hoping that he wasn’t three or four goals away coming into here, just in case. You never knew what he was going to be able to do.”
Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who spent over a decade in Washington and won a Stanley Cup alongside Ovechkin in 2018, summed it up simply: “He’s the best all-time goal scorer in the NHL. Nobody was thinking he was going to beat Gretzky’s record, but he did it, and he’s still scoring. You never know when he’s going to stop playing.”
For Ovechkin, this game carries a bit of personal nostalgia, too. As a kid growing up in Russia, the Sharks were his favorite team. Now, after more than two decades in the league, he may be skating in the Shark Tank for the last time.
Injury Updates: Skinner and Misa Nearing Return
While the spotlight is rightfully on Ovechkin, the Sharks are also looking to get a little healthier. Forwards Jeff Skinner and Michael Misa both practiced on Tuesday and could be available for Wednesday’s game.
Skinner, 33, has been out since suffering a lower-body injury early in the Nov. 13 game against Calgary. He skated with the second power play unit during practice, a positive sign that he may be close to returning.
Misa, 18, was injured during the morning skate on Nov. 5 ahead of a game in Seattle. If he’s not ready for NHL action just yet, a short conditioning stint with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda could be in the cards-especially with Hockey Canada’s World Junior Championship camp opening later this month in Niagara Falls. That move would give Misa valuable ice time ahead of a potential World Juniors appearance.
The Sharks currently have 23 players on the active roster, so someone would need to be reassigned to the Barracuda to make room if Skinner is activated.
Desharnais Sidelined
On the blue line, defenseman Vincent Desharnais is now week-to-week with an upper-body injury. He last played on Nov. 26 in a tough 6-0 loss to Colorado. Warsofsky noted that Desharnais had been dealing with the issue for some time before being officially sidelined.
With Desharnais out, the Sharks are carrying eight healthy defensemen, giving Warsofsky some flexibility-but also raising questions about how the rotation might shake out in the short term.
Final Thoughts
Wednesday night’s game offers a little bit of everything: a look at the future in Will Smith, a possible farewell to one of the greatest to ever do it in Alex Ovechkin, and a Sharks team trying to get healthy and find its rhythm.
If this is Ovechkin’s last skate in San Jose, it’s worth soaking in. Because whether you’re a fan of the Sharks, the Capitals, or just hockey in general, watching No. 8 do his thing-especially at 40 years old-is still one of the game’s great privileges.