Niklas Backstrom Steps Away From Capitals, Deals Huge Blow To Alex Ovechkin's Quest To Break Wayne Gretzky's Scoring Record

Washington Capitals center Niklas Backstrom will be stepping away from the team as he continues to battle an injury. That's a costly loss for the Capitals, and it may also have some serious implications as Backstrom's long-time running mate Alex Ovechkin closes in on the NHL's all-time goals record.

The team announced on Wednesday that Backstrom is stepping away to focus on recovering from a lingering injury.

“Given my ongoing injury situation, I decided to take some time and step away from the game. This is a difficult decision, but one that I feel is right for my health at this time," Backstrom said in a statement. "I want to thank my teammates, the organization, and fans for their unwavering support throughout this process. I ask for privacy at this time as I determine my next steps and viable options moving forward.”

The 35-year-old Swede had hip-resurfacing surgery in 2022, which cost him most of last season as well.

Backstrom is Washington's all-time has scored over 1,000 points since being drafted by the team in 2006. That level of production will be sorely missed, but perhaps most of all by Ovechkin, whose pursuit of Wayne Gretzy's goal-scored record has slowed down this season.

Ovechkin Not Having Backstrom With Him Could Make Topping Gretzky Much More Difficult

The Great 8 entered the 2023-24 season at 822 goals. That was just 72 behind Gretzky's total of 894, and it looked like Ovechkin could realistically top that mark in the mid to late part of the 2024-25 season.

However, through 9 games this season, Ovechkin has just 2 goals. at that clip, he's looking at a 20-goal season. If he did that and continued to score at that pace it would take three and a half seasons to catch Gretzky.

The reason the loss of Backstrom is a problem is because of just how productive the one-two punch of Ovechkin and Backstrom has been over the years. Backstrom is obviously an incredible passer given that he has 762 assists in his career. More than 275 of those assists came on goals scored by Ovechkin.

This means that Backstrom has assisted on roughly a third of Ovechkin's goals in his entire career.

Ovechkin will need someone to fill the void. Especially on the power play. Someone to hit him with that cross-ice pass that he can bury in the back of the net with a one-timer. No one does that better than Backstrom.

I think Ovechkin will still break Gretzky's record, it's just going to be a whole hell of a lot harder without Niklas Backstrom feeding him pucks.

Follow on X: @Matt_Reigle