He would score more. Here is my reasoning behind that.
-Gretzky would score more purely on having a better winger alone. You all have to remember he had a goon on a wing almost everyday of his NHL life.
-Gretzky was in fact a very good skater. Sure, he would not be able to outstate a lot of guys in todays NHL but he couldn't outstate in a straight line many players from that era including guys on his own team. I have watched him during his entire career and trust me, no one had better mobility and that's why he could do what he did. Agility IS today's game. Guys like Marner, Kane, etc scare the hell out of other teams simply because they don't know what those types of players will do with the puck.
-Gretzky would benefit with todays equipment and technology.
-Gretzky would benefit from a career of not having to worry about clutching and grabbing and interference. You let a guy like Gretzky loose and you are in trouble.
-Most of you have never seen the guy and try to make comments on him. Trust me, that man was built for todays NHL.
-As for goalies being bigger, that doesn't matter. Gretzky was a pure sniper. He didn't need any space to put a puck and he was a master tactician on getting goalies to move side to side. And some of you act like the other teams didn't have a goalie in their crease. Some of the greatest goalies of all time played in his era and he lit them up. Vanbysbrouck, Roy, Hasek, Hextall, Brodeur etc. Just because the goalies wear more gear today doesn't mean they are that good and as a matter of fact, you could take any goalie form todays NHL, even with their current gear and put them back in that era and they would get lit up.
-Today there is no trap. Its open season which to me is very exciting. But that would help Gretzky. Teams played very structure defence back then and Gretzky still picked them apart.
-No one, not today or not over the last hundred years had Gretzky's hands. The man was a pure magician. Evan as a Leaf fan for the last 53 years, he was amazing to watch.
-People say that the D are better. Sure, for the most part, but remember, the league was less watered down back then and every team was deep on D. Some of the greatest D men came out of that era. Orr, Bourque, Lidstrom, Coffee, Stevens, Niedermayer etc.
-A D mans skates are way better now. You take that kind of an upgrade and put them on the D back then and the D would be more mobile and have less Knee problems.
-He never ever took a shift off. That shows in his consistency.
-And finally, his hockey IQ. To make an analogy, some of the greatest chess players of all time existed over 100 years ago and if any were alive today, they would be grand masters AINEC. Todays players learn from moves and systems by reading those old chess masters routines and how they played the game. Gretzky is like those old chess masters, his hockey IQ was and is greater than any that ever played the game.
Some of you act like the NHL from the 80's and 90's skated on their ankles or something. Go watch the videos of him doing what he did. Yes, they are in colour.
People saying he was not built for todays game make me laugh. He was a tad over 6 feet and 185. So he would be an average height and weight for todays game.
Gretzky saying that he would not have done as good in todays NHL and people thinking that is true is laughable. What is Gretzky supposed to say "I'd be better than everyone"? NO, Gretzky was a very humble guy and he answered that like a true diplomat. That question was asked hundreds of times and he answers the same way every time.
Semenko and McSorley had 502 points combined in a total of 10 years for Semenko and 18 years for McSorley. And there were a few other goons that played wing with Gretzky.
Make no mistake. The "goon" factor was real. Teams had plans to go out and intentionally hurt Gretzky. There was a huge segment on coaches corner about that. Players were told to hurt him or "take him out" was a very common phrase back then. He had a 20 year target on his back and some guys succeeded like Gary Suter.
I cannot stress enough, you young guys need to go watch the clips before you make your silly comments.
Gretzky played his ENTIRE NHL career with a goon on his line. Semenko and McSorley combined for a total of almost 1500 games with most of them being on Waynes wing. There was probably another 200 games with a goon on his wing in St Louis and NYR.
How would any of the stars today do with only playing with one wing and the other one completely useless?
When Gretzky took the ice, almost every game, he only had one winger and thats it. And if you say the D were not as good back then, then you have to admit that the D was not good on the Oilers either. So who passed him the puck then? Its not the case, the trap was real and the goon factor was very real.
Today, Gretzky would have more points and its not even close. He'd have better and faster D getting him the puck and another winger he could utilize. He would have nearly the same amount of points if he and a winger went out by themselves leaving a winger on the bench. They called that a "penalty Kill" nowadays. So in effect, he got 90% of his points while on the PK. For you guys that play and have played, how would you do playing 5 on 4 with the other team having 5 players and they want to hurt you?
Sorry guys, wake up and do the homework on this instead of saying things like "he was not built for todays NHL or not a good skater".
Gretzky had super elite vision and IQ, super elite mobility, super elite hands and super elite shot. And, he was not a one trick pony like guys like Ovechkin. He scored from all over the ice. You have to use 2 players to create a Gretzky of today. You would have to have a more mobile Stamkos or Ovechkin and a better passer than anyone because Gretzky could do both. Elite shot and elite Passer. The perfect hockey player.