It feels like ages ago when a 20-year-old Alex Ovechkin took the league by storm in his rookie season, scoring 52 goals to capture the Calder Trophy over Sidney Crosby, but 12 years later, "The Great Eight" still sees himself as a spring chicken.
Prior to a marquee matchup between the league's two top goal-scorers - he and Winnipeg Jets phenom Patrik Laine - Ovechkin was asked if he sees "young Ovi" in Laine, to which he replied: "I'm still young," according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.
Despite the response, Ovechkin did indeed have high praise for the 19-year-old.
"He's a great talent and still young and still can produce lots of dangerous (chances against) different teams," he told NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "Obviously his shot is pretty amazing. Tonight, we have to stay close to him and don't give him any chance."
Laine was quite humbled by Ovechkin's comments.
"It sounds pretty good to me that's saying nice things about me," Laine told Gulitti. "He's been my biggest idol when I was growing up, so it's pretty unreal to hear something like that, him talking about me. It's pretty cool."
It's hard not to draw comparisons between the two players. Both are right-handed shots, play left wing, are big, have deadly one-timers, and neither shies away from physical play.
Viewers can only hope the two snipers put on a show when they meet Monday night in Washington.
Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.