Wayne Gretzky believes Ovechkin can break his record

When he retired in 1999, Gretzky held or shared 61 NHL records, but he believes that one of his could be broken by only Ovechkin. That record being his regular-season goals, with 894 goals, Ovechkin is only 236 goals away from tying the record.

Alex Ovechkin only needs to average 33.9 goals over the next seven seasons to break the record that the 'Great One' has held. Only two players have scored more than 237 goals after turning 33 and those two are hockey legends. Gordie Howe scored 299 after he turned 33 and Johnny Bucyk scored 275.

Absolutely. First and foremost, you got to be injury-free and Alex has been injury-free throughout his career, Gretzky said on Hockey Night in Canada's most recent podcast that will be released tomorrow as a tribute to his retirement on April 18th, 1999.

 Throughout his career, Ovechkin has had eight 50-goal seasons and 47 on average.

You have to play in a good organization and Alex is playing in a good organization. And, you have to play with good players, and Alex is playing on a good team with good players. I just have nothing but respect for the young man. He plays the game hard, he plays physical and wants to win. If he breaks my record, I will be the first guy there to shake his hand, Gretzky continued. I think it is good for hockey and I think it's great for sports when people break recoreds.