How Great Would Gretzky Be If He Played In The Modern Era? (post-lockout)

[StreetHawk]

This question tends to come up six months or so, and the answer is always that he'd be the favorite to win the Art Ross every season. The difference is that the separation from his peers would be smaller than in the past. The talent level is higher, but Gretzky would be a better shooter, passer, skater, puck handler, and more athletic, had he grown up today with current hockey programs, nutrition, and fitness.

He'd get his points, but he wouldn't be challenging for the goal title unless he really upgraded his shot vs these 6'3 athletic goalies vs the 5'10 and under guys in the 80's.

He would be in the mix for the Art Ross each season. He'd likely be something like 25-30 goals with 90-110 assists a season depending on his linemates.

 

[pekka55]

Have you seen how much goaltending has changed since Gretzky's days? It's like day and night.

 

[TropicOfNoReturn]

Feel like the way he would play in the modern era would resemble a lot like how Kucherov plays.

I think he'd rack up 80+ assists a year. The goal scoring wouldn't be as great in my opinion - more like a 35-40 goal scorer tops.

You think he'd be a ~120 pt player?
There are multiple players these days putting up 120+ points per season.

I think if prime Gretzky was playing right now, he'd be a ~170 pt player. He was that far ahead of his peers.

 

[StreetHawk]

You think he'd be a ~120 pt player?
There are multiple players these days putting up 120+ points per season.

I think if prime Gretzky was playing right now, he'd be a ~170 pt player. He was that far ahead of his peers.

I’d go lower because I think his goal scoring would be down a lot. He averaged 65 goals per year in Edm. Guess that depends on the finish by his teammates.

 

[Video Nasty]

He’d routinely score 160+ and I think he flirts with 200 even today—just not to the tune of doing it four times in five seasons and piling up over 1000 points in the process like he did.

If McDavid can score 153 in 82, 105 in 56, and average nearly 1.52 PPG through the first 700+ games of his career, while Kucherov and MacKinnon hit 140 during their perfect storm seasons, I don’t see why anyone would think it’s inconceivable that Gretzky couldn’t tack on half a point extra per game. I think his peak point totals are a little lower, but I think he would consistently put up 2 PPG during his 20s.

I think the same for Lemieux.

 

[Baby Punisher]

Today's tending is much better than the '80s and '90s. IMO, despite that Gretzky would still be great. With modern equipment and training and his skills, he would still dominate.

 

[nbwingsfan]

He'd still be one of the, if not the best players in the league still, can't really deny that.

But he wouldn't be putting up 200 pt seasons and outscoring the next tier of players by 50 points.

Talent floor has just risen so much since his time, those numbers are just not attainable

I think a better version of Kuch, but at C is a solid comparison

Would he be getting 200pt regularly? Maybe not.

But if you’re viewing him as a better version of Kuch, say 160-170pts, then what does that make players like Brian Trottier, Mike Bossy, Savard, Hawerchuck, etc considering he was scoring 70-90pts more than these guys at his peak?

Do we really think that someone like Rantanen, Marner or JT Miller were as good as those guys offensively? I sure as hell dont

Which is why I think he flirts with 200 during his peak years.

The scoring during those seasons among top players wasn’t much different than the last 3 years despite one single outlier:

Gretzky

 

[Soundwave]

I honestly don't think he'd score near 200, maybe not even over 150 that often. His shot wouldn't beat goalies like it did in the 80s, the other thing is a team like the 80s Oilers would be $40 million over the cap in the modern era, he wouldn't have an All-Star team to play with.

Even as is, his goal scoring dropped off a cliff as goaltending got better by 92 or so.

He'd still be an amazing playmaker, probably the best in the game, but I don't think he'd just cruise to Art Ross trophies the way people think.

The game (especially the goalies ... 80s goaltending is like ECHL caliber, maybe worse, imagine if you dropped McDavid or MacKinnon into a league against ECHL goalies) has changed a lot.

The "he dominated his peers tho!" ... a lot of those guys wouldn't even make the NHL today (the D and goalies especially, shit even a lot of the coaches back then didn't coach for shit, just barking at players and letting them play pond hockey trading chances all game long).

 

[JFedol]

He would easily pace for 200 a season, if not the 170 range. Kuch as a C but on steroids. Players, parity and overall competition are 100% better than the past, but the raw beefy amount of talent + modern training, nutrition and training would benefit 99 greatly.

 

[JFedol]

Gretz still wouldn't be able to match my peak season Be a Pro stats, if were going to keep it real

73 games, 205 goals, 268 assists, 473pts, 1C for St Louis, Superstar difficulty, 5'10 230lb TANK, Carried that entire bum ass franchise by myself

Had 100pts by game 19 LOL WOOOOOOOOOO

what a season that was ladies and gentleman

WOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Sol]

There’s no chance Gretzky would outperform McDavid.

 

[psycat]

He’d have the hockey sense to dominate in any era, but he wouldn’t be strong enough to last in today’s NHL.

Perhaps modern day training would bulk him up, but who knows if an extra 20 lbs. of muscle would slow him down.

Even back then he wasn’t a particularly great physical specimen. They used to joke that he consistently finished dead last on the Oilers during strength and fitness tests, but he had so much skill that he overcame this weakness. In today’s NHL I don’t know if he still would. Just like in today’s NHL, Bobby Orr wouldn’t seem quite so fast, and Bobby Hull’s slapshots would get blocked most of the time.

That’s the sad reality of professional sports...the game doesn’t always get better, in fact sometimes it gets worse, but the players continuously get better.

Lies, strength maybe but he had excellent overall stamina and fitness. Heck there are videos of him running 60 meters etc and he performee very well.

 

[psycat]

There’s no chance Gretzky would outperform McDavid.

Why not?

 

[majormajor]

35 goals, 95 assists.

 

[Coffee]

With the newer skates, sticks, and training regimens? Still great, if not even more great.

I think he's asking for point total estimates.

 

[ijuka]

I think that Gretzky would adapt to any situation. I think that the current ruleset would benefit him. Wouldn't be surprised at all if Gretzky would be the best player in the league even today.

 

[Kudelski37]

Gretzky would break all of his own records. The rule changes since 2005 turned the NHL into a pick up game.

 

[boredmale]

Gretzky in 2025 would have 2025 equipment and 2025 training methods so you have to factor that in if you think Gretzky sort of looked like a weakling or wasn't the fastest skate, etc.

All that being Said I am guessing he tops out at about 150-160 points in a good year

 

[slybel]

2 observations:

With no clutch and grabs from the 80s era, he would do good.

But, with no protection, less fights and retaliations, it would get interesting.

 

[MrLunatik]

With the newer skates, sticks, and training regimens? Still great, if not even more great.

or... with some of the best athletes now being goalies, larger goalie equipment, better defensive systems, improved depth in the league, a salary cap that makes playing with 6 other hall of famers extremely unlikely... he could also very easily be less great.

Let's not pretend like there weren't benefits to playing in the the era he did.

 

[MrLunatik]

2 observations:

With no clutch and grabs from the 80s era, he would do good.

But, with no protection, less fights and retaliations, it would get interesting.

and without every goalie in the league rocking a sub-.900 SV%?

 

[umma gumma]

He’d have the hockey sense to dominate in any era, but he wouldn’t be strong enough to last in today’s NHL.

If Patrick Kane is strong enough to last in today's NHL then Gretzky would have no problem. Don't be silly.

How would he do in today's NHL? Well we have players that have competed against today's players and that competed during Wayne's time. For example in 2011, 40 year old Teemu Selanne outscored the likes of 22 year olds Patrick Kane and Claude Giroux. In 1998, 27 year old Teemu was just keeping up with 38 year old broken down Wayne Gretzky.

In 06-07, 37yr old Joe Sakic outscored the likes of 20yr old Malkin and 21 yr old Ovechkin (as did Selanne). In 1994, 24yr old Joe was handily outscored by 32yr old Wayne, and Sakic was not considered to be in the same league as Gretzky and Lemieux.

Then you had 43yr old Jagr who had as many points as 22yr old Kucherov and was outscoring young bucks like Taylor Hall, Stamkos, Marchand, and Scheifle.

So he would have no problem playing in today's NHL. With no 2 line offside, no clutching a grabbing, little to no fighting, no more head hunting, nevermind the adances in equipment, Gretzky (and Lemieux) would tare today's league a new one. I also believe Jagr would be as good or better than anyone today.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

250+ points no problem

 

[57special]

With modern equipment, training, and amenities. Pretty great. Still, it's be pretty weird, because modern players use things that he invented (i.e. back of the net play, the "Gretzky curl")back in the day. would he also have to compete with his past self?

 

[SEALBound]

or... with some of the best athletes now being goalies, larger goalie equipment, better defensive systems, improved depth in the league, a salary cap that makes playing with 6 other hall of famers extremely unlikely... he could also very easily be less great.

Let's not pretend like there weren't benefits to playing in the the era he did.

Yeah but at the same time, Wayne benefits from all of that too. It wouldn't be 1980s Wayne and 1980s Oilers vs 2025 NHL teams.

You don't think an overall boost in team skill would also help Wayne? New offensive schemes, more guys that the shoot, more actual speed, no two-line passes, a SIGNIFICANT reduction in clutch and grab?

Wayne's fortay was vision and hockey IQ. That translates very well into the current NHL. Maybe not all of the on-ice 40mph sliders go in during a 2025 game like they may have in 1985 but I'd also bet that more capable teammates bury more chances.