No Russia-born defenseman in NHL history scored as many goals (220) and finished his career with as many points (811) as Gonchar, who was among the League's best during a career that began in 1995 and lasted until 2015.

The Washington Capitals selected Gonchar with the No. 14 pick in the 1992 NHL Draft. He came to North America in 1994, joining Portland, Washington's American Hockey League affiliate, for the Calder Cup Playoffs. He began the 1994-95 season with Portland, then made his NHL debut for Washington at the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 7, 1995.

Gonchar finished with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 1995-96, the first of 12 times he'd reach double figures in goals. He helped the Capitals reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 1998, though they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings, and became the first NHL defenseman born in Russia to reach the 20-goal mark when he scored 21 in 1998-99.

In 2001-02, Gonchar was voted an NHL Second-Team All-Star after scoring 59 points (NHL career-high 26 goals, 33 assists), and again in 2002-03, when he scored 67 points (18 goala, 49 assists), an NHL career-high he matched four seasons later.

Washington traded Gonchar to the Boston Bruins on March 3, 2004. He finished the season with Boston, played the 2004-05 season in Russia during the NHL lockout and then signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 3, 2005.

Gonchar continued to put up points with the Penguins. He also helped rookie center Evgeni Malkin, a fellow Russia-born player, adapt to North America, even serving as his landlord for a time after Malkin arrived from Russia in 2006.

After missing most of the 2008-09 season with a shoulder injury, Gonchar returned in February and keyed Pittsburgh's late run to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He overcame a knee injury in the second round of the playoffs and helped the Penguins win their first championship since 1992.

Despite missing 20 games with injuries in 2009-10, Gonchar had his ninth 50-point season. He became the first Russia-born defenseman in NHL history to reach the 200-goal mark when he scored on March 2, 2010. His 128 goals from 2000-10 led all NHL defensemen and his 500 points were second, behind Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, who had 550.

Gonchar signed with the Ottawa Senators on July 1, 2010, and played three seasons with Ottawa. He was traded to the Dallas Stars on June 7, 2013 and played two seasons with Dallas before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 11, 2014. He played his final NHL season with the Canadiens in 2014-15.

Along with his 811 points in 1,301 NHL games, Gonchar totaled 90 points (22 goals, 68 assists) in 141 playoff games.

Following his retirement, Gonchar rejoined the Penguins as a defensive development coach and was part of their Stanley Cup championship teams in 2016 and 2017.