Heritage Auctions will open an auction Monday morning of 11 game-worn sweaters from some of hockey’s greats—including three Alex Ovechkin jerseys for collectors who may be seeking to add some of the star’s memorabilia to their collection ahead of his breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals mark. Ovechkin is just six goals away from surpassing Gretzky’s 894 NHL goals.
The auction includes the jerseys Ovechkin wore for his 300th NHL goal in 2011 and his 400th NHL goal in 2013, along with a jersey from February, when Ovechkin notched his 19th-straight 25-goal season. Jersey values are estimated at $50,000 each for the 2011 and 2013 sweaters, and $20,000 for the jersey from February. The jerseys up for bid are all game-worn and photo-matched to the associated contests by MeiGray, a firm that authenticates memorabilia, including as the official partner of the Washington Capitals.
“The jerseys included in this curated 11 lot collection represent the best goal scorers in the history of the game, and we know that the interest will be significant as Alex Ovechkin marches forward in his quest to catch and surpass Wayne Gretzky as the all-time NHL career goal record holder,” Heritage’s director of sports auctions Chris Ivy said in an email.
The remaining jerseys in the auction come from other greats as well. There’s a Gordie Howe-worn jersey from the 1973-74 Houston Aeros season of the World Hockey Association, estimated at a value of $60,000; two Gretzky jerseys from LA Kings and New York Rangers games estimated at $250,000 and $500,000, respectively; and a Sidney Crosby 2011 Winter Classic sweater estimated at $30,000. Rounding out the offerings are a Mark Messier Rangers jersey ($20,000), Jaromir Jagr New Jersey Devils sweater ($15,000), Connor McDavid Oilers jersey ($35,000) and Auston Matthews St. Pats throwback jersey from 2021 ($8,000). All those jerseys are also photo-matched by MeiGray to a specific game, except Howe’s, which is photo-matched to his first Aeros season.
Ovechkin’s memorabilia has a good track record of doing well at auction. In 2018, a jersey from a 2006 game in which he scored a legendary goal—while on his back, after being tripped—fetched $33,600. In the past two years, trading cards of the Russian have fetched $15,600, according to Heritage’s website.
“He seems to remain very popular with collectors,” Ivy said, when asked if Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has had any impact on Ovechkin’s collector’s market. “I’ve never had a collector bring up any geopolitical issues regarding Ovechkin, and I haven’t seen any noticeable impact on his collectibles.”
Despite the goals record’s impending arrival, Heritage is the only major auction house to plan an Ovechkin-related auction, based on an early March survey of the top five sports auction firms by Sportico. The auction opens the morning of Monday, March 31.
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