Agreed. Contrary to what some people think, ES scoring per game was remarkably consistent from 2006 to 2016. The reason overall scoring decreased is because far fewer penalties were called. There were (on average) nearly 6 powerplays per game in 2005-06. That number fell to just 3.5 per game by 2010-2011, and it was barely above 3.0 by 2014-15. Claude Giroux led the NHL with 37 PP points in 2015; in 2006, that wouldn't have placed him in the top 30.
Scoring started increasing around 2016-17 for several unrelated reasons (all of which favoured offense, and all of which were implemented within the span of a few years). The most obvious is the reduction in the size of goalie equipment. But there was also the introduction of 3v3 overtime. And, although this isn't a rule change, coaches began pulling their goalies earlier and more often.
If it were true that the current generation of star players were meaningfully better than the last generation, older veterans would be getting left in the dust. Instead, we see 39 year old Ovechkin being 5th in goals (despite missing around 15 games), 37 year old Crosby being 3rd in 5v5 scoring (ahead of McDavid, Kucherov and Crosby), Stamkos setting a career high in scoring at age 31 (despite very obviously no longer being as good a player as was a decade earlier), etc. There are plenty of other examples, but the only way this could happen is if the leaguewide scoring environment became more conducive to scoring.