Auston Matthews addresses the possibility of breaking Ovechkin's record.

Over the weekend Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin did what many had once believed to be impossible when he broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal scoring record in the National Hockey League, making history happen before our very eyes.

It will likely be a very long time before we ever get to witness another historic chase like the one that Ovechkin just embarked on, but as unlikely as it may seem there is a player currently active in the NHL that is on pace to do just that.

Throughout his career in the NHL, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews has accumulated an impressive 398 goals over 623 games which actually puts him a higher goals per game average than either Ovechkin or Gretzky. Gretzky and Ovechkin both share an identical 0.60 goals per game average while Matthews is currently slighter higher at 0.64 despite a significant decrease in his goal scoring production this season as he deals with various injuries.

Naturally there are those who wonder if we will one day see Matthews himself surpass that record and on Monday morning, one day after Ovechkin had set the new record, Matthews was asked about that very possibility.

"That's such a long way to go," said Matthews. "I don't think I should even be in that conversation. This guy just broke the record. I'm so far away from that, and I think it shouldn't really be a focus on myself."

It was a very humble response from a player that has already established himself as a phenomenal goal scorer, but it also may genuinely be the case that Matthews doesn't even want to think about that potential record this early on. It would put a tremendous amount of pressure on him if he were to chase this record for several years, and it makes sense that he would like to proceed more naturally until he gets a little closer to it becoming a genuine possibility.

Do you think Matthews could one day reach that incredible milestone? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.