Alex Ovechkin received a slight boost in rating from EA Sports for NHL 26.
Ovechkin is back up to 90 overall, one year after dropping into the 80s (89) in the video game franchise for the first time in his career. The legendary winger followed up the digital disrespect by posting 44 goals in 65 games during his age-39 season, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record along the way.
EA Sports has released individual player ratings over the past few days, ahead of the full game’s release on September 12. The cover athlete this year is Matthew Tkachuk, a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion with the Florida Panthers.
According to the publishers, Ovechkin is the sixth-best left wing in the NHL, trailing just Kirill Kaprizov (94), Matthew Tkachuk (93), Artemi Panarin (92), Kyle Connor (92), and Jesper Bratt (91). He ranks 10th-best among left wings in NHL 25, jumping ahead of Jason Robertson (89), Filip Forsberg (89), Jake Guentzel (89), and Brady Tkachuk (89) this year.
Ovechkin is the 12th-best winger overall, with Nikita Kucherov (96), David Pastrnak (94), Mikko Rantanen (93), Sam Reinhart (93), William Nylander (92), and Mitch Marner (92), ahead of him from the right side.
EA Sports has also added a feature where players in the game will mirror their real-life tendencies, so Ovechkin will naturally set himself up in his office on the power play.
Outside of Ovechkin, defenseman John Carlson was the only other Capitals player highlighted in the top 10 for his position. Carlson, an 88 overall, ranks as the eighth-best right-handed defenseman in the NHL, dropping two spots from his sixth-place finish last year.
Among all defensemen, Carlson ranks 18th in the league. The only fellow righties ahead of him are Cale Makar (95), Adam Fox (90), Charlie McAvoy (89), Evan Bouchard (88), Colton Parayko (88), Moritz Seider (88), and Dougie Hamilton (88).
After Ovechkin, Dylan Strome (89) is the highest-rated Capitals player, followed by Carlson, Aliaksei Protas (87), Jakob Chychrun (87), Pierre-Luc Dubois (86), Connor McMichael (86), Tom Wilson (86), Logan Thompson (86), and Martin Fehervary (86).
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid is again the top-rated player in the game at 97 overall.
You can preorder NHL 26 on both the Xbox and PlayStation.