“Ovechkin will extend his contract with Washington if it is offered” – Ilyushchev

Former head coach of the Russian national hockey team Vladimir Plyushchev told Match TV that Washington forward Alexander Ovechkin would extend his contract with the club if he received such an offer.

Earlier, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman expressed hope that this season would not be Ovechkin’s last in the league.

— Ovechkin’s contract with Washington expires in the summer. Do you think he will extend it?

— He will extend the contract if it is offered.

— Would you like him to break any other record?

— I think that hockey is, first of all, a game. I don’t know how many goals Kharlamov scored, but he was the greatest player. I also don’t know how many goals Firsov scored. These are the players who tormented the North Americans. Europe simply groaned from them. A player is remembered by the game, and statistics are a good thing for extras. A player should be judged not only by the goals he scores, but by the contribution he makes to almost every game.

A person may not score goals, but pass the ball to an empty goal. All the glory will be attributed to those who put their clubs into an empty goal. Ovechkin and Kucherov are players who know how to score and create, so they are popular with fans, specialists, opposing coaches and players,” Plyushchev told Match TV.

Ovechkin has 994 goals in the NHL, including the playoffs, Wayne Gretzky’s record is 1016 goals. The 40-year-old Russian is the league record holder for goals in the regular season (917).

Ovechkin has scored 20 goals and provided 21 assists this season.