tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
Dionne was a compiler later in his career, but don't doubt that he was dominant, either. The guy was top-10 in goals nine times (same as Bossy and one more than Gretzky), and top-5 six times (one fewer than Gretzky, two fewer than Bossy)
No doubt, he was dominant. But to answer the question "Why does Dionne get overlooked", the simple answer is that he was overshadowed by Gretzky and Bossy.
Top-10 goalscoring is relevant, but most fans will not remember a guy just because he hit the top 10 with frequency. Heatley has been top-10 in five of the past six seasons (!), but I'd wager the majority of NHL fans wouldn't name him on an off-the-cuff list of elite forwards.
Bossy finished top-3 in goals more than twice as often (7) as Dionne did (3). Perhaps more important to reputation, two of the times that Dionne finished #2 in the league, the race was won by none other than Mike Bossy.
And fair or not, playmaking is forgotten unless a player is legendary for it. Like Francis and Jagr, the goal scorer always gets the bigger reputation.
I am glad, though, that there is at least some push to raise Dionne's profile for future generations. 5th all time in points is a huge accomplishment.