Apologies for the long post I was bored at the end of the work day here. I don't want to chime in too much considering the discussion has died down compared to earlier in the day, and this is even coming from someone who enjoys watching Mcdavid play, but I feel not enough people bring up how much scoring has increased since 2017 nowadays when people compare Mcdavid and the rest of today's stars to that of Sid's era. It was hard enough when people did it when compared to the absurd outlier of the 80s Oilers. People will remember from time to time, but many are caught up in the gaudy numbers Mcdavid, Drai, Kucherov, Mack, etc. are putting up recently to often acknowledge it.
I don't believe it to be a coincidence that around the same time as the last round of goalie equipment reductions the league mandated over the mid 2010's, league scoring began to increase, especially when compared to the then recent Art Ross winning season of Jamie Benn who totaled a whopping 87 points. Defenses didn't overnight just forget how to play.
I posted the following a bit under a year ago during the first few weeks of the season when I last bothered to look into it but I wager this past season was likely just as high.
The league average goals per game in 16-17 was 2.77, where as last year was 3.18.
It's a pet peeve of mine when the effects of the last round of goalie equipment reductions and Vegas/Seattle expansions before 17-18/21-22 had on league scoring go unacknowledged when comparing stats from before and after said time periods.
| 10-11 | 11-12 | 12-13 | 13-14 | 14-15 | 15-16 | 16-17 |
| 2.79 | 2.73 | 2.72 | 2.74 | 2.73 | 2.71 | 2.77 |
| 17-18 | 18-19 | 19-20 | 20-21 | 21-22 | 22-23 | 23-24 |
| 2.97 | 3.01 | 3.02 | 2.94 | 3.14 | 3.18 | 3.05 |
(Side note but I also believe this contributed to some of Matt Murray's struggles post cup runs. Check out the shoulder risers he was wearing during the first cup run in 2016, especially if you can find a picture where he and Fleury are standing next to each other, he legit had 3 inches of more padding above his shoulders compared to Fleury, it was comical, and I remember specifically pointing that out back during that run on here in some game thread.)
Anyway back to the scoring increase, what's interesting to me about the league wide scoring increase since 2017 is that while it's been a noticeable increase compared to the relatively stable league scoring through most of the 2010's, where recent seasons have rivaled the height of the mid 90s just prior to the dead puck era, the increase is most pronounced in the high end of league scoring. Meaning the best players in the league saw the biggest jump in production, at least last time I looked into this it was true, I didn't pay much attention to this past season.
This would make sense if the goalie gear restrictions had a non-insignificant effect on league scoring, as the reduction in equipment would while benefiting any shooter, most benefit the most skilled and accurate scorers, who the small reduction in size of padding goalies use for blocking the net would be most able to exploit the extra net to shoot at. The talent dilution league wide thanks to the two expansions during this time period is also obviously a factor that must be taken into consideration for however much of the increase in league scoring you want to give them credit for.
I would doubt that the increase in scoring is to any great degree in difference in style of play league wide compared to pre-2018, as while there was a noted increase in league speed after ironically enough the 2016 Pens helped write the blueprint for it, defenses have similarly improved in the skating department to counteract faster offenses. You no longer have many lumbering big men who's job is solely to obstruct like there used to be.
Long story short when comparing the stars of today to even the stars who's primes weren't even a decade ago, one needs to consider more than just straight stats comparisons. A lot changed in a relatively short amount of time.
Funny enough while I feel like a portion of the Pens fandom to some degree tries to diminish the accomplishments of the Mcdavids, Drai's, Kucherov, etc. nowadays because they see them as threats to the legacies of Sid and Geno, Sid's legacy specifically did ironically benefit from the increase in league scoring that he unfortunately aged out of his prime during, by aiding in him maintaining his seasons above a point per game streak. I doubt he'd have managed to keep it up this long had league scoring rates stayed below the 2.80 mark they were at for most of his career as he continued to age into his late 30's today. So that in one way is a fortuitous bounce his way he can be thankful for, at least when compared to the numerous unfortunate injuries that robbed him of accumulating more hardware earlier in his career, much like Mario before him.
Some of this might be wrong but I'm tired now so don't care.
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