Ovechkin back in Raleigh, where career began at 2004 NHL Draft

Alex Ovechkin will be front and center when he takes the ice Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The forward is four goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 for the most in NHL history and will look to get even closer when the Capitals play the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center (7 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, truTV, FDSNSO, MNMT, TVAS).

It’s a full-circle moment for Ovechkin, whose NHL career officially started in the same building -- it was called the RBC Center at the time -- at the 2004 NHL Draft.

Ross Mahoney, who was Washington's director of amateur scouting at the time Ovechkin was selected No. 1, remembers.

"The team had a fan reception event at the hotel in Raleigh after the draft, and I remember standing there at the door and Ovi shaking hands with every fan that came into the room," said Mahoney, now the Capitals assistant general manager. "You always want confirmation of what you think you're getting, and I was just like, 'You’ve got to be kidding me.'

“This guy is saying hello, shaking hands and talking to everybody. It was impressive."

Never has there been a time in his 20 NHL seasons when Ovechkin hasn't enjoyed the spotlight or offered a bear hug to a teammate after a huge goal.

"We were very fortunate to win the NHL Draft Lottery and then get a caliber of player like Ovi," Mahoney said. "I told someone the other day, 'I've never won a 50/50 draw at a hockey game, so how would I win the lottery?' But I got home, turned on TSN and saw the little ticker and it read, 'Capitals win the lottery.'

"What a year to win it. I was kind of in shock a little bit and then kept thinking, 'Wow, we're going to get a chance to draft this guy.'"

Washington wasted little time when on the clock to select Ovechkin, ahead of center Evgeni Malkin, who went No. 2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Ovi was our guy, and it's no disrespect to Malkin at all as we thought Malkin was a tremendous young talent and would be a really good player in the NHL," Mahoney said. "But we thought the hardest thing to do in the League is score goals and thought Ovi would be a legitimate goal-scorer. Did I think he would have whatever it is he's at now? No way. If he had 550 or 600 goals, that would have been really good.

"The other part was he was so strong physically that he ran people over; I think a lot of people probably didn't think about that originally. They probably saw this young, big kid who could really shoot the puck, but he is so strong and so physical."

Ovechkin's 3,733 hits ranks third all-time since the League instituted the category as an official statistic in 2005-06.

Dan Marr, NHL Central Scouting's vice president and director, served as director of amateur scouting with the Atlanta Thrashers during Ovechkin's draft-eligible season.

"What really set him apart from past draft-eligible prospects was his personality, which was larger than life even then," Marr said. "He was a breath of fresh air from the norm, and he always loved being at the rink, being with teammates, playing the game, and doing it with that infectious smile of his on display."

Goran Stubb, who served as the NHL director of European Scouting from 1983-2023, recalls how dominant a player Ovechkin was even prior to this draft-eligible season.

"His drive, work ethic and winning attitude, combined with his speed, set of tools, physical strength and unbelievable offensive instincts were sensational," Stubb said. "I scouted a 15-year-old Ovechkin the first time during an Under-18 4 Nations tournament in Sweden back in August 2001.

"After watching an extremely impressive Alex later that season at the Under-18 World Junior Championship in Slovakia, it was easy to figure we were witnessing a future superstar."

Here is a portion of Ovechkin's report from the 2003-04 NHL Central Scouting Final Report Book:

Skating & Skills

A complete package. Superb skater, excellent acceleration and top speed. Superb stickhandler, passer and playmaker. Skates well through traffic, has an outstanding scoring touch with a great selection of shots. Superb hockey sense, sees the ice extremely well. Excellent coordination. Outstanding over all skill level.

Competitiveness & Physical Play

Big, strong solidly built powerforward with superb attitude. Can hit and take a hit when needed and does not mind playing physical hockey. Offensive minded star who do take care of his defensive duties.

General Comments:

Already a key-forward on Dynamo in the Russian league. Has been a key player on junior national teams for several years. Has all the tools, including attitude on and off the ice, to become a superstar. Mother won two Olympic gold medals in basketball, father former soccer player.

Ovechkin's breakout season on the international stage was in 2002-03. He began the season with a tournament-high 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in five games as a 16-year-old at the U18 Junior World Cup (now the Hlinka Gretzky Cup) in Czechia and Slovakia. He had seven points (six goals, one assist) in six games at the 2003 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December and January, and led Russia with 13 points (nine goals, four assists) in six games at the 2003 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Yaroslavl, Russia, in April.

The international success that season came while also playing for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Super League, Russia's top professional men's league at the time and the precursor to the Kontinental Hockey League.

"Meeting him at the Combine, he had an air about him," said Central Scouting's John Williams, who was scouting for the Columbus Blue Jackets at the time. "Confident but not cocky. He just had a presence when he walked in for our interview. I think it was pretty evident by then he was going to be a very good NHL player ... very soon.

"I remember seeing a video of him getting a hole-in-one at a Capitals golf event [in 2006]. He had never played golf before and gets a hole-in-one. He’s just one of those people."

Mahoney said the thing he remembers most about Ovechkin's Combine interview was his great personality.

"He came in with a big smile on his face," Mahoney said. "There were times he was trying to be funny and times he was just funny, and language wasn't a barrier. He understood a lot more than what he spoke, and he'd been learning English because he knew he was going to come over and the coaches were going to be speaking it, so he had a pretty good start on that."

Ovechkin didn't excel at any one part of the physical testing at the Combine, but that didn't matter.

"It was the effort," Mahoney said. "I'm sure he had a really good idea he was probably going first, but he just pushed so hard."

Mahoney was asked his feelings on Ovechkin being so close to breaking the record.

"Right now, it's Ovi's world and I'm a tiny little part of it," he said. "I have a scouting staff too, so it wasn't just me and (then-general manager) George (McPhee) had to sign off on it.

"Ovi always had a love of the game, and he still does after all these years. After any goal he might come into that pile and knock you down because he's so happy for you to score.

“He was an unbelievable person in 2004 and still is today."