Alexander’s NHL career was destined to be incredible. Already in his first season at that time, the 20-year-old Russian reached the mark of 50 goals per season, distinguished himself in 81 regular season matches with 52 accurate shots and also scored an incredible 106 points for his performance in total for a newcomer, also adding 54 assists. .
However, according to NHL rules, upon entering the league, players must sign a rookie contract with the teams. Therefore, Ovi received $950,000 as base salary in the first three seasons. But he was offered the maximum salary possible for a newcomer – taking into account bonuses, he could earn $3.85 million for the season. As a result, Alexander received exactly this money and won the Calder Trophy, the award for the best rookie in the NHL. . It is noteworthy that his opponent in the battle for this trophy was Sidney Crosby, the future captain of the Canadian national team and one of the greatest players of our time.
The 2006/2007 season turned out to be less successful for Ovechkin than the previous one. He scored 92 (46+46) points thanks to the goal+pass system, 14 fewer than last season. As a result, Alexander took 13th place in the NHL in points and 4th in goals scored.
For most of his third season, Ovi played on a line with center Niklas Bäckström, who was making his NHL debut, as well as compatriot Viktor Kozlov. Ovechkin and Bäckström became regular partners for many years, forming a combination of the best pure sniper in the league and one of the best passers. At the end of the regular season, the Russian scored 112 points for his performance – he scored 65 goals and made 57 assists. Both results still constitute Alexandre’s personal bests. As a result of the campaign, he received FOUR individual awards at once: the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, the Lester Pearson Award and the Maurice Richard Trophy.
The result of the 2007/2008 season helped Ovechkin achieve an incredible contract at that time. On December 10, 2008, Ovechkin signed a new contract with Washington, which became a record in NHL history. The Russian signed a deal scheduled for 13 seasons and during this period he received $124 million: $9 million for the first 6 seasons and $10 million for the next 7. Before that, the NHL had never signed a contract worth more than $100 million.
During his record contract, Ovechkin exceeded the mark of 50 goals in a season seven more times (in total he did this 9 times – repeating the NHL record). But above all, he managed to achieve the essential: touch the Stanley Cup (2017/2018 season).
On July 27, 2021, Ovechkin, aged 36 (he will turn 37 in a month and a half), signed a new five-year contract with Washington for a total of $47.5 million, an average of $9.5 million per year. , as within the framework of its previous agreement with the “metropolitans”.
But Ovechkin learned how to make money not only in hockey, but off the ice as well. In 2006, he was cast as the official for EA Sports’ NHL 07 hockey simulator (later repeated with the NHL 21 version of the game, as well as developer 2K Games’ NHL 2K10). In April 2009, Ovechkin signed a contract with battery manufacturer Energizer. With Reebok, the Russian has his own clothing line – “A8”. In 2010, Ovechkin entered into a contract with Procter & Gamble, under which he advertised Gillette shaving products.
As a result, Ovechkin took 2nd place in the list of the richest stars in Russia for 2009, compiled by Forbes magazine. The hockey player’s earnings amounted to $12 million, and only tennis player Maria Sharapova was able to beat him. Based on the results of 2017, Ovechkin leads the top 10 Russian celebrities of show business and sports of Forbes magazine. At that time, his income already amounted to $14 million. In October 2018, Alexander Ovechkin became the official face of the Wargaming World of Warships game and starred in a promotional video for the game’s official YouTube channel. Based on the results of 2018, Alexander Ovechkin tops the ranking of Russian celebrities show business and sport by Forbes magazine. His income was $14.5 million.
Note that in December 2014 it became known that Ovechkin was actively involved in charitable work. He takes care of orphanages in Russia and buys them hockey uniforms. In January 2015, Ovechkin donated a car he received from the Japanese automaker Honda to the Cool Cats children’s hockey school in Virginia (USA), where children with disabilities are trained.
And today, October 9, Forbes published a ranking of the highest paid NHL players for the 2023/2024 season. The leaders of the ranking are Alexander Ovechkin and Canadian Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon. Both hockey players will earn $17.5 million in the upcoming season, while Ovechkin will receive $12.5 million for the contract and another $5 million will be paid to him through sponsorship deals. McKinnon will earn $16 million under his contract with the Avalanche, and he will receive $1 million through sponsorship deals.
As we can see, Ovechkin, even at 38 years old, remains one of, if not the biggest, major stars in the NHL and is making a lot of money from it. Alexander could have asked Washington for more money as part of the contract, but didn’t, giving the club the opportunity to leave more space under the salary cap. It is noteworthy that in North America they did not refuse sponsorship contracts with Ovechkin, even after the start of SVO in Ukraine. Moreover, the Russian did not have to deliver any speeches that would have been received with hostility in his native country. It’s just that Ovechkin made a name for himself through his work and talent and definitely wrote it in the history of not only the NHL, but also the entire sports world.
Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
