Has Peak/Prime McDavid surpassed Peak/Prime Crosby and Peak/Prime Jagr already?

[lbj23]

He has 5 Art Ross Trophy tying Jagr, better than Crosby 2 Art Ross Trophies. Has he already surpassed Crosby and Jagr who are generally acknowledged as the two best forwards post the Mario Lemieux era? Would love to hear arguments. And btw, McDavid can add to his accomplishments as he's still in his prime while Crosby is on the tail end of his career. But right now, has he already surpassed the latter two in terms of peak accomplishments?

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[jigglysquishy]

 

[The Panther]

Yes.

In terms of peak, there's no doubt that McDavid is ahead of Crosby. Comparing his peak to Jagr's is a little closer.

This forum is really obsessed with player comparisons. I sometimes wonder why we don't spend more time with interesting historical stories, facts, anecdotes, etc., or why we don't compare teams more than individual players (as hockey fundamentally isn't about individual players). But I guess it's just a human thing to obsess over individuals. I've noticed that whenever I start a thread about a historical season, or a thread comparing teams, it dies after about 4 posts. But if I go on to the forum and type "Sakic vs. Yzerman... ENTER" or whatever, it'll become a thread that goes of for 46 pages. I dunno, it's weird.

 

[gretzkyoilers]

How about comparing Jagr's first three seasons to his last three full seasons? This might be a better comparison with the perception that the NHL was "easier" in the early 90's versus the 2010's where most players from the 80's and 90's could play in this "new" NHL....

 

[VistamarCroissants]

McDavid has surpassed Crosby and is close to surpassing Jagr

 

[MadLuke]

I doubt McDavid has yet to peak

 

[Crosby2010]

So basically we are looking at a 153 point season where he dominates the scoring race at a level not seen since Mario and obviously Gretzky prior to that. Not just that but also a 42 point playoff. Neither Jagr or Crosby have done either of these. I know we never saw Crosby play at this level. With Jagr there are the times between 1995-'00 where he certainly looked McDavid-esque when looking at the scoring race. 1999 and 2000 come to mind. And even then, is that 2021 or 2023 McDavid? It isn't better I don't think but how much worse is it? I'd say just a little inferior. He did hit 149 points. So there is definitely an argument. As for careers it is still Crosby and Jagr over McDavid. He is just in his 10th year. They played a lot of hockey, Crosby is in his 20th. Both Jagr and Crosby are tied for 5th all-time in playoff points, so it is not as if they have never been here before. But I don't think we have seen a player at his best as good as McDavid since Mario, and that's almost three decades worth.