Playing career

Gonchar began his professional career in 1991 with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Soviet Championship League. He also played two seasons for Dynamo Moscow.

Gonchar was the first round pick, 14th overall, of the Washington Capitals in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He began his North American career in 1994, suiting up in two playoff games for the Capitals' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Portland Pirates. He continued with Portland in 1994-95 before making his NHL debut with the Capitals on 7 February 1995, against the Buffalo Sabres. He would appear in 31 games total during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season. The following year, in his first full-length campaign in the NHL, Gonchar would tally 41 points, showing his potential as an effective offensive defenceman.

In the 1998-99 season, Gonchar became the first Russian defenceman to score over 20 goals in the regular season. The following season, Gonchar would break the 50-point mark for the first time in his career. He would also finish in fifth place in Norris Trophy voting as the NHL's best defenceman.

After 57- and 67-point (tied for a career high) seasons in 2000-01 and 2002-03 respectively, Gonchar was named to the Second All-Star Team both seasons.

On 3 March 2004, in his tenth season with the Capitals, Gonchar was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Shaone Morrisonn and two draft picks. Finishing the season with Boston, he would tally 58 points, leading all NHL defencemen. Between 2000 and 2004, Gonchar recorded more points than any other defenceman, with 74 goals and 241 points.

During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Gonchar returned to Russia to play for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he played with future Pittsburgh Penguins teammates Petr Sýkora and Evgeni Malkin. After the lockout, Gonchar signed a five-year, $25 million deal with the Penguins on 4 August 2005. In 2006-07, his second season with Pittsburgh, Gonchar tied a career-high with 67 points. In addition to his on-ice duties for the Penguins, Gonchar housed rookie Evgeni Malkin when he first arrived from Russia in October 2006.

The following season, Gonchar helped lead the Penguins, with offensive superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, the franchise's first finals appearance since 1992. After a 65-point regular season (the eighth 50-plus point season of his career), Gonchar added 14 points in 20 playoff games as the Penguins eventually lost in the Finals to the Detroit Red Wings. Gonchar placed fourth in Norris Trophy voting, tying his best-ever placing for the League's best defenceman.

During the first game of the 2008-09 pre-season, Gonchar was hit into the boards by David Kočí in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, dislocating his shoulder. It was reported that he would miss four-to-six months after opting for arthroscopic surgery. While both Gonchar and defensive partner Brooks Orpik claimed the hit was late, well after Gonchar had completed a pass, it was asserted by Penguins Head Coach Michel Therrien as a clean hit and that Kočí had simply "finished his check." With the Penguins struggling to make the playoffs, Gonchar returned to play his first game of the season on 14 February 2009, against the Toronto Maple Leafs after being sidelined for 21 weeks. He played in the final 25 games of the regular season and tallied 19 points, helping the Penguins into the 2009 playoffs as the Eastern Conference's fourth seed. However, playing in Game 4 of the Conference Semi-finals against the Washington Capitals, Gonchar suffered a serious knee injury. Despite being initially expected to be out for several weeks and possibly the remainder of the playoffs, Gonchar returned for Game 7 of the series. Gonchar and the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup in seven games, facing the Detroit Red Wings for the second consecutive year. After winning, he revealed he had been playing with a partially torn medial collateral ligament (MCL).

Gonchar was sidelined with injuries again for a total of 20 games in the 2009-10 season. Despite missing time, he went on to record his ninth 50-point season in the past 10 seasons, besting Nicklas Lidström's eight. He also had his 11th season with ten goals or more, tying Sergei Zubov for the most 10+ goal seasons among Russian defencemen. Gonchar finished the season third in points-per-game average among defencemen (behind Norris Trophy nominees Mike Green and Duncan Keith). He set an NHL record on 2 March 2010, by scoring his 200th NHL goal, making him the first Russian defenceman to ever do so in the NHL.

From the 2000-01 season to the 2009-10 season, Gonchar tallied exactly 500 points, which was second among NHL defencemen only to Nicklas Lidström's 550 points. Gonchar was also second among NHL defencemen in assists during that span with 372 assists, behind Lidström's 434 assists. However, he led the League in goals by a defenceman during that span, with 128. Rob Blake was second with 119 goals, while Lidström had 116 goals. Gonchar would actually lead the NHL in points-per-game average among NHL defencemen during that span, scoring at 0.80 points per game to Lidström's 0.76 points per game. He would also lead the League in goals created per game among NHL defencemen with 0.27 to Al MacInnis's 0.26 and Lidström's 0.25. In fact, since his first NHL season in 1995, only Lidström has scored more points among defencemen — Lidström tallied 889 points in that time, while Gonchar tallied 684 points. Scott Niedermayer was third with 653 points.

On 1 July 2010, Gonchar signed a three-year, $16 million contract with the Ottawa Senators. The deal included a no-trade clause. During the 2012-13 NHL lockout, Gonchar returned to his native Russia to play with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)'s Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He was traded on 7 June 2013, to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2013. On 8 June 2013, Gonchar signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Stars. The following year, on 11 November 2014, Gonchar was again traded, this time to the Montreal Canadiens for left wing Travis Moen.

On 15 May 2015, it was announced by Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, that Gonchar will not return to the Montreal Canadiens next season. Gonchar remained un-signed over the summer, and accepted an invitation to return to the Pittsburgh Penguins training camp on a try-out basis on 14 August 2015. At the conclusion of training camp and during the pre-season, Gonchar was released by the Penguins on 3 October 2015.

Coaching career

Gonchar signalled the end of his professional playing career in accepting a Development coaching position within the Pittsburgh Penguins organization on 27 October 2015.

International play

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing Russia
Olympic Games
	1998 Nagano
	2002 Salt Lake City
World Championships
	2010 Germany
	2007 Russia

Gonchar is a two-time Olympic medal-winner with Russia. He earned a silver medal at the 1998 Games and a bronze medal at the 2002 Games. Gonchar met his future wife, Xenia Smetanenko, then a figure skater for Armenia, at the 1998 Nagano Olympic games.

In addition, Gonchar also competed in the 1993 World Junior Championship, two World Cups and three World Championships.

Awards

• Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2008
• Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2001 and 2003
• Won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991-92	Traktor Chelyabinsk	CIS		31	1	0	1	6		—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	Dynamo Moscow	IHL		31	1	3	4	70		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	Dynamo Moscow	IHL		44	4	5	9	36		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Portland Pirates	AHL		61	10	32	42	67		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Washington Capitals	NHL		31	2	5	7	22		7	2	2	4	2
1995-96	Washington Capitals	NHL		78	15	26	41	60		6	2	4	6	4
1996-97	Washington Capitals	NHL		57	13	17	30	36		—	—	—	—	—
1997-98	Lada Togliatti	RSL		7	3	2	5	4		—	—	—	—	—
1997-98	Washington Capitals	NHL		72	5	16	21	66		21	7	4	11	30
1998-99	Washington Capitals	NHL		53	21	10	31	57		—	—	—	—	—
1999-00	Washington Capitals	NHL		73	18	36	54	52		5	1	0	1	6
2000-01	Washington Capitals	NHL		76	19	38	57	70		6	1	3	4	2
2001-02	Washington Capitals	NHL		76	26	33	59	58		—	—	—	—	—
2002-03	Washington Capitals	NHL		82	18	49	67	52		6	0	5	5	4
2003-04	Washington Capitals	NHL		56	7	42	49	44		—	—	—	—	—
2003-04	Boston Bruins	NHL		15	4	5	9	12		7	1	4	5	4
2004-05	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	RSL		40	2	17	19	57		4	1	1	2	6
2005-06	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		75	12	46	58	100		—	—	—	—	—
2006-07	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		82	13	54	67	72		5	1	3	4	2
2007-08	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		78	12	53	65	66		20	1	13	14	8
2008-09	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		25	6	13	19	26		22	3	11	14	12
2009-10	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		62	11	39	50	49		13	2	10	12	4
2010-11	Ottawa Senators	NHL		67	7	20	27	20		—	—	—	—	—
2011-12	Ottawa Senators	NHL		74	5	32	37	55		7	1	3	4	6
2012-13	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		37	3	26	29	40		—	—	—	—	—
2012-13	Ottawa Senators	NHL		45	3	24	27	26		10	0	6	6	14
2013-14	Dallas Stars	NHL		76	2	20	22	20		6	0	0	0	4
2014-15	Dallas Stars	NHL		3	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
2014-15	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		45	1	12	13	16		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1301	220	591	811	981		141	22	68	90	102

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1993	Russia	WJC	6th		7	0	2	2	10
1996	Russia	WCH	SF		4	2	2	4	2
1998	Russia	Oly	02 !		6	0	2	2	0
2000	Russia	WC	11th		6	1	0	1	2
2002	Russia	Oly	03 !		6	0	0	0	2
2004	Russia	WCH	5th		4	1	2	3	6
2006	Russia	Oly	4th		8	0	2	2	8
2007	Russia	WC	03 !		9	1	4	5	4
2010	Russia	Oly	6th		4	1	0	1	2
2010	Russia	WC	02 !		5	0	4	4	0
Senior totals					52	6	16	22	26

[ Source: Wikipedia ]