I think Selanne had a better year in 1993. Hull was easily the world's best winger prior to that. Mogilny was the 2nd best winger in the NHL in 1993. He was a 2nd team all-star in 1996 as well, but miles behind Jagr. Kariya and Selanne would have been better wingers than him for sure in 1996. He had two great seasons and a lot of seasons that left tons to be desired. I remember how great he was when he certainly tried to be. But it wasn't often enough.
He would have been the best player all-time in 1960 for sure. And rightly so. Howe was still playing, and out of the remaining "Big 4" only Orr was born at that time, and he was 12. To be honest, even to this day it is hard to have Richard out of the top 10. I have Beliveau ahead of him and Hull too. You could say, Harvey, Jagr, Crosby. But honestly, who else with great certainty? To this day he is 8th all-time in playoff goals. And unless Ovechkin, Crosby or Malkin have a big postseason he's going to hang onto that place. And really, those are the three names that have a chance to catch the 82 goals. Richard did this in a low scoring era with two playoff rounds. Not to mention, he has 14 either 1st or 2nd all-star selections. Gordie Howe has 21. Bourque has 19. Gretzky has 15. Richard has 14. I don't think anyone else is close. Even Ovechkin who you figure would have as many only has 11. So I mean, 14 straight years and this is what happened. Only his injury-plagued rookie year and his final three seasons does he not do this. Yeah, that's epic. Bobby Hull as well has 12. Beliveau 10. The story checks out - even in 2025 - with Richard being an all-time great. His playoff resume is probably only better than perhaps Gretzky.
