And look what he did for his line-mates. Adam Graves scored 38 goals that year. That season was sandwiched between two 23-goal seasons. It was Graves' second 30-goal season since his 52-goal breakout in 1993-94. Gretzky's right wing for much of that year? Todd Harvey. As much as I like Harvey, he may be the worst right wing to ever take a regular shift with Gretzky. Gretzky, at age 38, with a very wonky back, years of wear and tear (never underestimate the toll of an extended playoff run, let alone six), and Todd Harvey on his right wing, still managed a pretty darn good season.
He was terrific his first two years with the Rangers. 97 points in 1996-97, and vintage playoff magic. Carried that Rangers team on his back for extended periods of time. Followed that up with a 90-point campaign in 1997-98, tore the league apart after the Olympic break (I believe he was second in league scoring after the Olys) and was named a second team all-star. Niklas Sundstrom looked like he would fulfill the projections of 40-goal seasons when he played on Gretzky's wing that year.
Don't know what people were expecting from him in his final seasons. It's hard to expect much from a player who turned 36 in his first season with the Rangers, who had been playing professional hockey since he was 17, and who had 193 playoff games before arriving in New York, including six trips to the Stanley Cup final.