Yep.
Top 5 Art Ross Finishes, 2020-24:
2020: Draisaitl, McDavid, Pastrnak, Panarin, MacKinnon
2021: McDavid, Draisaitl, Marchand, Marner, Matthews (this was the weird COVID year where each team played only teams in their Division)
2022: McDavid, Gaudreau, Huberdeau, Draisaitl, Kaprizov
2023: McDavid, Draisaitl, Pastrnak, Kucherov, MacKinnon
2024: Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak
Total Top 5 Finishes:
McDavid (5)
Draisaitl (4)
MacKinnon (3)
Pastrnak (3)
Kucherov (2)
Panarin (2)
Gaudreau (1)
Huberdeau (1)
Kaprizov (1)
Marchand (1)
Marner (1)
Matthews (1)
Total Players: 12
And again, those numbers include the weird outlier COVID season in 2021.
Top 5 Art Ross Finishes, 2010-2014:
2010: H. Sedin, Crosby, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Stamkos
2011: D Sedin, St. Louis, Perry, H. Sedin, Stamkos
2012: Malkin, Stamkos, Giroux, Spezza, Kovalchuk
2013: St. Louis, Stamkos, Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane
2014: Crosby, Getzlaf, Giroux, Seguin, Perry
Total Top 5 Finishes:
Stamkos (4)
Crosby (3)
Giroux (2)
Ovechkin (2)
Perry (2)
H. Sedin (2)
St. Louis (2)
Backstrom (1)
Getzlaf (1)
Kane (1)
Kovalchuk (1)
Malkin (1)
D. Sedin (1)
Seguin (1)
Spezza (1)
Total Players: 15
In what way are any of those players better than Kucherov, Mackinnon, or even Matthews and Pastrnak?
They aren't, necessarily. But if you add McDavid, Draisaitl, and Panarin to that list, that's pretty much the entire list of players who can compete for an Art Ross in this current era.
Jamie Benn won a scoring title during Crosbys prime….thats how “tough” competition was.
Correct. More players capable of winning a scoring title = tougher competition
Fewer players capable of winning a scoring title = weaker competition
I'm glad we agree here.