Can Alex Ovechkin still score 30 goals in 2023-24?

With Alex Ovechkin heating up and finding the back of the net in five consecutive games the big talk around the league is if he can still score 30 goals this season. Today On Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the season Ovechkin has had and what to expect in the last half of the 2023-24 campaign.

Tyler Yaremchuk: One guy who is a first-ballot Hall of Famer even if he hasn’t been playing like it, is Alex Ovechkin. This season has not gone the way Ovechkin and the Capitals had expected, after putting up just eight goals in 43 games, and we all know about the chase for Gretzky but I want to focus on this season. He’s on pace for 22.2 goals over 82 games, what’s a realistic ceiling you can see, can he still score 30 goals this season?

Frank Seravalli: He can and the realistic mark is probably 25, he’s at 22.2 right now based on games played but then you sort of look at this rejuvenation where he had one goal before the All-Star break and then four in four straight. Maybe there was some magic that happened in Dubai when he was on vacation over the All-Star weekend.

Frank Seravalli: I’m not sure what the secret to success is for Ovechkin but he does look different and he seems like he is moving a bit better, which is what I think has really held him back this season. He hasn’t really shown the ability to get to his spots where he has made so much magic happen over the years. If he scores 25, he will be at 847 and if he scores 30 he will be at 852 all of a sudden you see the 894 and it becomes clear if we’re going to try and combat this at 11-13 goals per year, it’s going to be agony. So this is a positive development for the Capitals and their fans.