Washington Capitals famed player Alexander Ovechkin autographed this 8 x 10 photo.

Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin, often referred to as "the Great Eight" or "Ovi", is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League(NHL). Prior to entering the league, Ovechkin played for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleaguefor four seasons, from 2001 until 2005, and returned to play for them briefly during the 2012–13 NHL lockout. A highly touted prospect, Ovechkin was selected by the Capitals first overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. With the 2004–05 NHL lockout cancelling the season, Ovechkin remained in Russia until 2005, joining the Capitals for the 2005–06 season. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, scoring 52 goals and 54 assists to lead all rookies with 106 points and finishing third overall in league scoring.

Ovechkin has led the NHL in goal scoring (for which the Rocket Richard Trophy is awarded) seven times, which is tied for the most times in history with Bobby Hull. He first did so in the 2007–08 season, when he recorded 65 goals and 112 points. That year he also led the league in points, winning the Art Ross Trophy, and also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player and Lester B. Pearson Award as the best player as voted on by the NHL Players' Association. Ovechkin would again win the Hart Trophy and Pearson Award in 2009, along with the Richard Trophy, and won the Ted Lindsay Award (the renamed Pearson Award) for a third consecutive year in 2010; it also marked the fifth straight year that he was named to the First All-Star Team.

After a couple years of decreased scoring, Ovechkin again led the league in goals in 2013, earning the Richard Trophy and his third Hart Trophy. He would repeat as the Richard Trophy winner from 2014 to 2016, scoring at least 50 goals each season and in doing so becoming only the third player to score 50 goals in a season seven times. He marked 500 career NHL goals in the 2015–16 season and also led the league in goals for four straight seasons from 2012–13 to 2015–16; as such, Ovechkin is considered by many to be one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the NHL.[1][2] In 2017, Ovechkin was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players of all-time.[3] Ovechkin won his first Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018, and also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs.