Gretzky > Lemieux
McDavid < Crosby (currently)
Messier >= Malkin (its definitely getting closer)
??? < Francis
Good poll overall and honestly pretty close. Yes, Gretzky is better than Lemieux. Don't have to be ashamed to admit it. Giving Lemieux the best benefit of the doubt almost makes him equal to Gretzky, but Gretzky came in with the perfect skill set, on the perfect team, with the perfect timing in a high scoring era to accomplish what he did. Lemieux did what he did with lots of obstacles to overcome. And someone mentioned PPG as an argument for Gretzky which I thought was funny.
Lemieux retired with over 2PPG when he retired the first time, which was actually higher than Gretzky. It only dipped because he came back to let his son Austin watch him play after over 3 years of retirement (and he still looked like a man among boys out there).
Crosby's career is better than McDavid's at this point. Like Lemieux, Crosby's dealt with a lot of injuries as well and has succeeded. McDavid has the potential to overtake him, but have to give the edge to Crosby at this point.
Messier has always been a hard one for me to rank. I hated him. Almost everything about him. But, he's a great player and was still able to succeeded after being separated from Gretzky. Malkin does pretty good with or without Crosby in the lineup. Has success of his own despite being in Crosby's shadow. Can definitely carry the team when needed. Still, I think Mess was better.
Francis is severely underrated on these boards. He was the Penguins for awhile. About as well-rounded as a center can be. He was offensively capable and defensively responsible. Not sure who you slot in for number 4 with the Oilers (Weight probably?) but Francis was better.
I'm torn. Flip a coin