Paul Bissonnette Believes an NHL Player other than Alex Ovechkin can Beat Wayne Gretzky's Goal Record

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TJ Tucker
December 22, 2023 (2:44 PM)

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While it hasn't been a great season for Alex Ovechkin so far, there's still hope he can catch, and beat Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record before he retires. However, former player turned analyst Paul Bissonnette believes there's another player in the league with a better chance at catching Gretzky, and provides numbers to back it up.

While on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, Paul Bissonnette said he firmly believes Auston Matthews can beat the all-time goal scoring record. He said Matthews 325 goals so far (as of the time of writing this blog) is better than where Ovechkin was at this point in his career.

"I think that there's a high chance that Matthews ends of being the highest goal-scorer of all time. He's a freak in the gym, and the way that the game has evolved, it kind of protects these kinds of players. He doesn't play nearly as physical as Ovechkin did. So as far as his body holding up - people do say he was injured a lot more than Ovi was. Especially early on. But, buddy I think there's a high probability that Matthews ends up breaking the overall goal record."

Like him or not, Bissonnette isn't wrong on his assessment. This season alone, Matthews is on pace for 70+ goals if he can stay healthy, a mark Ovechkin never hit in his career. In his almost 20 years in the league, Ovechkin's highest goal total in a season was 65 in 2007-08. Matthews has hit the 60 mark once so far, and should have plenty of time in his career to do it a few more times. Bissonnette's assessment isn't as far-fetched as some may think.