Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

‘Ovechkin could have been a Florida Panther’ – Reporter Jackie Redmond shares the Alex Ovechkin NHL Draft story!

The Florida Panthers came within days of drafting the Great 8 - Alexander Ovechkin!

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

The NHL World just witnessed something sensational, truly remarkable, a feat that perhaps many felt would never be accomplished in this magnificent sport after the ‘Great One – Wayne Gretzky’ called it quits on his playing career. However, records are meant to be broken and history is meant to be made in sports, which is exactly what happened when the Washington Capitals took on the New York Islanders yesterday and Alexander Ovechkin’s slapshot thudded into the net for his record-breaking 895th career goal in the NHL.

Anyone who has followed ice hockey and the NHL over the past 20-odd years is very well-versed with the Russian left winger’s career. The highly decorated player began his career in the NHL in 2004 when the Capitals drafted him with the first overall pick. Since then, the 39-year-old is currently playing in his twentieth season in Washington, leading them to a Stanley Cup win in 2018.

Ovechkin’s records and achievements are nothing new, but an interesting piece of news came to light following his record-breaking performance yesterday. Did you know that the Moscow native could have been a Florida Panthers player had he been born just a couple of days earlier?

How Destiny Was Against the Panthers in 2003

Hockey great Alexander Ovechkin was a 17-year-old teenager playing for Dynamo Moscow in the Russian Super League (RSL) back in 2003 when the Florida Panthers had their eyes set on drafting him. Ovechkin had started playing for Moscow the previous year and had already garnered attention with his playing skills. As a matter of fact, the Panthers who held the number one overall draft pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft in Nashville were dead set on making him their first overall pick.

Also Read: The Biggest Moments of Alex Ovechkin’s Legendary NHL Career

Unfortunately for the Panthers, Ovechkin, who was born on September 17, 1985, did not meet the age eligibility criteria and that too by only two days. Had he been born even a couple of days earlier, i.e. on 15th September, the Panthers would have selected him without any hesitation.

However, the Panthers were not finished trying. They were so hellbent on selecting Ovechkin that year that their general manager at the time, Rick Dudley even argued to the league that if leap years were accounted for, then Ovechkin would have been eligible by 4 days.

Needless to say, the league did not see it that way, but the Panthers were not to be outdone. As per various sources, it has been reported that Florida tried no less than 4 times to draft Ovechkin in various rounds, and their ask was rejected every time. In fact, the situation was getting so out of hand that the league supposedly told the Panthers that they would lose a draft pick if they pursued the matter further. Although this should be taken with a pinch of salt given that no concrete evidence of such an exchange has been found.

Nevertheless, everything happens for a reason, but it is quite exciting to think that had everything worked out for the Panthers in 2003, NHL history would have been a lot different during the past two decades.

alexander ovechkin

NHL

Washington Capitals

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!