“Earlier I thought Ovechkin doesn’t have any chances to break Gretzky’s goal record,” Jagr said Monday in Moscow, where he is attending the 70th anniversary celebration of Avangard Omsk, the Kontinental Hockey League team he played for from 2008-11.

“That was six years ago. But Alex has changed and became a better and more effective hockey player than he was in [his] youth. I think he works harder now. He’ll be able to [break Gretzky’s record] if he can stay healthy and keep working as hard as now.”

Ovechkin is eighth in NHL history with 706 goals. At age 35, the Washington Capitals forward is 188 behind Gretzky. He will need to average 47 goals over the next four seasons or 37.6 goals over next five seasons to tie/break Gretzky’s record.