Watch: Alex Ovechkin gets help from an old friend during injury recovery

Backstrom was Ovechkin's main assist provider when both were healthy on 279 of his 868 career goals.

The two started playing together in 2007 and were practically inseparable on the ice until Backstrom underwent hip re-surfacing surgery in 2022.

It's unlikely Backstrom will ever return to the ice for Washington as his contract runs out after this season, and he has not progressed to any official on-ice activities in his recovery.

Ovechkin, however, seems right on track to return to game action at some point in early January.

Team owner Ted Leonsis confirmed that timeline on Tuesday to NHL.com, saying, "He’s probably still got two or three weeks. I don’t want him to rush it."

When "The Great Eight" does return, he can resume his chase of Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record (894).

At the time of his injury, he was on one of the hottest streaks of his career, leading the league in goals (15) and trailing Gretzky by just 26 tallies.

Even if scoring 27 goals to pass "The Great One" is too much for the remainder of this year, Ovechkin still has one more season under contract with Washington in which it seems inevitable he'll break the record.