Alex Ovechkin can break these other hockey records during his 22nd NHL season

It's official, Alex Ovechkin will return to the Washington Capitals for his 22nd (and possibly 23rd?) NHL season. The 40-year-old signed a one-year extension worth up to $9 million on July 2 and after speaking with reporters Monday, his eyes are focused on one thing only: Winning another Stanley Cup before he eventually retires.

"I’m very excited for the team and for the fans as well because on the paper, you can see our team is one of the best teams," he said. "But now we have to work for the Stanley Cup, for the playoffs first and then the Stanley Cup."

Of course, individual milemarkers are never far from Ovechkin's attention even if he claims they're never on his mind. The NHL's all-time leading goalscorer extended his record lead to 929 career goals last season and with his return (and retirement delayed indefinitely), fans are wondering whether we'll see the first 1,000-goal scorer in league history.

Alex Ovechkin can break more NHL records in his 22nd season

While 1,000 career goals may be ambitious, even for Ovechkin, he can still chase down a few more NHL records and join "The Great One," Wayne Gretzky, once again on some other all-time lists. He already ranks first in NHL history in power-play goals (331), game-winning goals (141), overtime goals (27), empty-net goals (72), 30-goal seasons (20), 40-goal seasons (14) and is tied with Hockey Hall of Famers Mike Bossy and Gretzky for most 50-goal seasons (9).

Ovechkin is just 11 goals shy of passing Gretzky for most career goals regular season and playoffs combined (1,016). Given he scored 32 last year in the regular season alone, this record is going to get obliterated. Heck, should he hit 20 goals this year he'll tie Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe for the most 20-goal seasons in league history (22). He's also just 25 even strength goals -- meaning five-on-five -- from passing Gretzky for the all-time mark in that category (617).

Elsewhere, Ovechkin just needs to play in 35 games to pass Patrick Marleau (1,607) for second-most with a single franchise all-time. Only Howe has played more (1,687) but should Ovechkin actually play a 23rd season that record will surely fall as well. "The Great Eight" will be just the sixth player in league history to play 22 seasons with a single club.

Ovechkin is also known for his hard hitting. He ranks third all-time in career hits (3,877), a stat that's only been tracked by the league since 2005. He needs a simple 152 hits to pass Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck for the record but 36-year-old Luke Schenn (3,809) isn't far behind and could challenge Ovechkin continually until either player retires.

Now, Ovechkin can't have his name at the top of every list but he can continue to climb and improve his case as one of the greatest players to ever touch NHL ice. His 1,687 career points rank 10th all-time and he's poised to pass legends like Mario Lemieux (1,723) and Steve Yzerman (1,755) to reach as high as eighth. He'd also be the 10th player ever to record 1,700 career points.

But wait, there's more. Ovechkin is just 27 games short of recording 1,600 career appearances. If he plays a full 84-game campaign (the NHL expanded the regular season by two games) his 1,657 games played would leave him as high as eighth on that list as well.

And at the franchise level, Ovechkin could pass his former teammate Nicklas Backstrom for most assists by a Capitals player (762). Though that might break some hearts as Backstrom was well known as the distributor for Washington throughout he and Ovechkin's buddy era with the team.

There's still a lot of history for "The Great Eight" to make as he continues his illustrious NHL career. So if you have the opportunity to watch any Capitals games this year (and maybe next), don't pass it up.

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