Last season, Ovi put up 51 goals in 81 games played, his one missed game, a one-game suspension for not playing in the All-Star game (Bo-GUS!) That brought our hero's total to 658 goals in 1,084 games played.
Ovi has been remarkably consistent in games played, playing no fewer than 67 games in each of his full seasons since 2005-06 (the lone exception was the 48-game lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season). In that time, he also has 247 power play goals, 4 short-handed goals, and 107 game winning goals.
I will say right now, over a month before the season starts, I think this may be one more 50-goal season for Ovi. He'll have no fewer than 40, and may break 50. I believe, right now, that he will also take home the Rocket Richard trophy for a record-setting 9th time.
01 - Wayne Gretzky............894 G - 236
02 - Gordie Howe..............801 G - 143
03 - Jaromir Jagr.............766 G - 108
04 - Brett Hull...............741 G - 83
05 - Marcel Dionne............731 G - 73
06 - Phil Esposito............717 G - 59
--------------------------------------------Possible---
07 - Mike Gartner.............708 G - 50
--------------------------------------------Probable---
08 - Mark Messier.............694 G - 36
09 - Steve Yzerman............692 G - 34
10 - Mario Lemieux............690 G - 32
11 - Teemu Selanne............684 G - 26
12 - Luc Robataille...........668 G - 10
13 - Alex Ovechkin............658 G
If Ovi scores 40 goals this season, it will put him at 698 goals; 50 will put him at 708. For him to catch Esposito, he'd have to have his second-best season ever... I think a 59 goal season may be out of reach, even for Ovi.
At the end of the season, though, I see Ovi as having more goals than Mark Messier and maaaaaybe tied with or one more than Mike Gartner. More likely, he'll fall between the two.
