THIS. League wide scoring in general has only slightly increased. The thread should really be discussing why it has become so concentrated amongst the very best players. I mean, just look at how the OP was stated - counting 100pt players instead of team average goal rates for the time periods selected to exaggerate this "dramatic" rise in scoring.
EDIT: I would guess that PP efficiency (and ice-time for the #1 units increasing relative to previous time periods as coaches finally figure out that this leads to better PP results overall) and 3v3 OT are 2 of the main reasons the scoring is more localized to the stars.
Fair point.
Here are some more numbers:
Among forwards, the #50 PPG scorer from '14 to '16 was
0.74
Among forwards, the #50 PPG scorer from '22 to '24 was
0.91 (a 23% difference)
Among forwards, the #100 PPG scorer from '14 to '16 was
0.62
Among forwards, the #100 PPG scorer from '22 to '24 was
0.71 (a 15% difference)
Among forwards, the #150 PPG scorer from '14 to '16 was
0.51
Among forwards, the #150 PPG scorer from '22 to '24 was
0.56 (a 10% difference)
So the 15% rise in league GPG can be attributed primarily to the #1 line/1st PP unit forwards leveraging the drop in goalie sv%.
