Fair enough but at some point you have to draw a line where raw totals matter. 626 isn’t enough that’s all I know
But when judging between massively different eras... I struggle to believe Ovechkin as he is, if transported back in time wouldn’t have shit all over that league and got more goals than he has now, even with older equipment. He definitely would have to adjust but his combination of training/skill and being a tank would still put him above most.
I think Gretzky and Lemieux had the natural talent and vision, and were absolutely smart enough to adjust to modern systems, but they wouldn’t immediately be on the same page. And for that and other reasons they’d probably have smaller numbers now as well. It’s legitimately harder to score now for a whole variety of reasons.
________________
It’s one thing to say there’s one freak of nature player from the past who will never be matched, but nostalgia has people thinking there are at several players who could never be matched... its a lot easier to flat out dominate when player development was fledgling compared to now, and the average player had a much bigger talent/skill gap between themselves and the stars, compared to now. And systems and team-discipline being on a lower level or three
That said, I don’t worry as much about “which player from any era was the best” precisely because of the huge difference... I’m perfectly content with Ovechkin handily being the best goal scorer of the modern era. If smarty stats people are crunching and adjusting numbers and believe Ovechkin is on the same level relative, that’s just icing.
