Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin is the winner of this year’s Mark Messier Leadership Award, the league announced. First awarded in 2007, the award goes to “the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.” Ovechkin helped lead Washington to an improbable top spot in the Eastern Conference while breaking the all-time goal-scoring record on the heels of a 44-goal, 73-point campaign. Ovechkin has captained the Caps for the last 16 years and this is his first time winning the award; there has yet to be a repeat winner league-wide thus far.