Would you take Prime Gretzky, or Prime Crosby and Malkin?

[Albatros]

Prime Gretzky is worth more than 22 points higher than 2018-2019 Kucherov.

If Thornton can get 96 assists in 81 games and 92 assists in 82 games in back to back seasons, Crosby with 84 in 79, Sedin dished out 83 in 82, and Kucherov passed off 87 in 82 during seasons with leaguewide GPG hovering around 6, does anyone really believe that prime Gretzky still wouldn't be winning scoring titles based off assists alone (or close to it)? Surely, he's pushing 120-130 assists if his goal scoring ability was somehow entirely contained to 40 goals..

Whether young Gretzky could score 40 in today's NHL is a very big if. He could be even more exclusively a playmaker than Thornton.

 

[Kuznetsnow]

Quite easily Crosby and Malkin, one player no matter how good isn't enough to win in today's game, a team built around Crosby and Malkin have won 3 cups in the modern era. If Gretzky ends up in Buffalo or Edmonton he's stuck in oblivion for 10 years.

Edmonton has 2 players better than Crosby and Malkin and theyre still stuck in oblivion

 

[Sky04]

Edmonton has 2 players better than Crosby and Malkin and theyre still stuck in oblivion

They play with eachother, Crosby and Malkin are 100+ point players on separate lines, big difference.

 

[Kuznetsnow]

Are you scaling all the players against the field or take Crosby/Malkin with 25 years of hockey advancement? Gretzky from 80s is probably not a 200 point player now but compared to the field it was like a league with McDavid (Gretzky), Drasaitl (Lemieux) and the next best forward being Brayden Schenn

 

[Kuznetsnow]

They play with eachother, Crosby and Malkin are 100+ point players on separate lines, big difference.

They can do either or and thrive, whereas Crosby and Malkin tended to suck when put on the same line instead of being able to bang out a few quick goals at will.

 

[Sky04]

They can do either or and thrive, whereas Crosby and Malkin tended to suck when put on the same line instead of being able to bang out a few quick goals at will.

If they can do either and thrive they wouldn't be primarily playing with each other.... A Crosby/Malkin lead team has never missed the playoffs.

 

[Minar]

As amazing as Gretzky was, he's only one player and never won a cup after leaving a team so stacked they won another cup even after losing 99, Kurri, and Coffey. I'd rather have 2 of the best players ever than likely the best one if the goal is to win a cup.

Somebody posted recently (I have not checked this) that i you don't count assists Gretzky had to Kurri, Coffey, Anderson and Messier he is still the all time assists leader. I dont think he needed them as much as you think

 

[Kuznetsnow]

If they can do either and thrive they wouldn't be primarily playing with each other.... A Crosby/Malkin lead team has never missed the playoffs.

A Crosby/Malkin team never missed the playoffs even when Crosby/Malkin were both on the shelf for a season at the same time.

Might have something to do with always having a Gonchar/Letang/Dumolin/Schultz/Whitney/Goligoski/Orpik/etc defense and firm #1G, plus well positioned depth in the face of Kunitz, Staal, Sutter, Bonino, Kessel, Hornqvist, you name it

 

[Perennial]

I might take Crosby alone over Gretzky...

 

[ItWasJustified]

Whether young Gretzky could score 40 in today's NHL is a very big if. He could be even more exclusively a playmaker than Thornton.

A young Gretzky in today's NHL would have grown up with modern sticks, modern skates, modern diet, modern training etc etc etc. He would dominate the game completely.

 

[Sky04]

A Crosby/Malkin team never missed the playoffs even when Crosby/Malkin were both on the shelf for a season at the same time.

Might have something to do with always having a Gonchar/Letang/Dumolin/Schultz/Whitney/Goligoski/Orpik/etc defense and firm #1G, plus well positioned depth in the face of Kunitz, Staal, Sutter, Bonino, Kessel, Hornqvist, you name it

Is that supposed to be good depth? They've carried wingers much worse than what McDavid and Draisaitl get to play with. 100% playoff rate, 3 cups, you can't argue results.

 

[Kuznetsnow]

Is that supposed to be good depth? They've carried wingers much worse than what McDavid and Draisaitl get to play with.

Good enough to make the playoffs even with both Crosby and Malkin on the shelf for most of the year in 2011

 

[EXTRAS]

I'd take lemeiux over Crosby malkin

Assuming you get a decent 2nd line center.

 

[Sky04]

Good enough to make the playoffs even with both Crosby and Malkin on the shelf for most of the year in 2011

They played half the season and secured their team a big enough cushion to make the playoffs without them in the final 2 months, sounds like another plus to me.

 

[Kuznetsnow]

They played half the season and secured their team a big enough cushion to make the playoffs without them in the final 2 months, sounds like another plus to me.

Their team kept winning without them lol. I guess they were directing them from their homes over playstation NHL20 style?

Pittsburgh had undisputed #1G and #1D (Gonchar then Letang) from the moment they were both in the NHL plus veteran depth, as well as always having a capable shutdown C to lean on. They didn't have to wait for their rest of the team to figure out how to play hockey for 5 years.

 

[Regal]

They played half the season and secured their team a big enough cushion to make the playoffs without them in the final 2 months, sounds like another plus to me.

They were clearly a worse team without them when looking at the underlying numbers, but they had 55 points in the 41 games with Sid (and 37 with Malkin), and only dropped to 51 in their final 41 games without both. Pens depth has usually been strong enough to hold their own with Sid and Malkin off the ice. That's more than a lot of teams van say without their best two players.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Prime Crosby and Malkin every given day.

I know Gretzky really was, realllly good but, (one of the best ever)...
things are so much different today, what hockey was back in the 80's.

The equipment are better, what players eat, what players do during practice, off-season...
ergo, coaching is way better, goaltending is soooo much better, as are the goalie equipment, better,
so is defending, far better.

You take prime Gretzky and put him to today's hockey and switch prime Crosby and Malkin
to the 80's...they would make joke out of Gretzky's records, actually, all of the
current star players would, Gretztky would struggle with the pace for starters

That said, that doesn't take out anything of Gretzky and his records, the hockey was just so much
different what it's been in any other decade.

 

[Albatros]

A young Gretzky in today's NHL would have grown up with modern sticks, modern skates, modern diet, modern training etc etc etc. He would dominate the game completely.

As an athlete Gretzky would be at a considerable disadvantage today as most NHL players go through essentially professional training regimens from early on. The edge that his serious approach earned him in the 1970s is largely no longer there. What is left is a skillful player with an exceptional vision, but that alone is not enough to dominate all aspects of the game anymore.

 

[Adam da bomb]

If they can do either and thrive they wouldn't be primarily playing with each other.... A Crosby/Malkin lead team has never missed the playoffs.

Is prime nurse as good as prime letang? I’d say no.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

They were clearly a worse team without them when looking at the underlying numbers, but they had 55 points in the 41 games with Sid (and 37 with Malkin), and only dropped to 51 in their final 41 games without both. Pens depth has usually been strong enough to hold their own with Sid and Malkin off the ice. That's more than a lot of teams van say without their best two players.

They were holding on, getting in and winning a bunch of shootouts.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

They can do either or and thrive, whereas Crosby and Malkin tended to suck when put on the same line instead of being able to bang out a few quick goals at will.

Not sure if you're aware but Mcdrai have never won anything while Crosby/Malkin have won 3 cups and are about to make 15 consecutive playoff appearances.

 

[SimpleJack]

Lol at people choosing 1 HOF-caliber elite player instead of 2 HOF-caliber elite players...

Is Gretzky the best ever? Probably.

But that doesn’t change how obvious this answer should be.

 

[MadLuke]

If they can do either and thrive they wouldn't be primarily playing with each other.... A Crosby/Malkin lead team has never missed the playoffs.

This season at 5v5 McDavid played 205 minutes with and 471 without Draisaitl, is 2 most common forward partner have been RNH (384 minutes) and Puljujarvi (363 minutes).

if they give the impression to be playing primarily together is that they do play a lot together a 5v5 (#3 most played with forward by a big distance) but not premilarly either and they play a lot together on the powerplay, 3v3, and dominate a lot when they do play together being very visible.

 

[MadLuke]

Lol at people choosing 1 HOF-caliber elite player instead of 2 HOF-caliber elite players...

Is Gretzky the best ever? Probably.

But that doesn’t change how obvious this answer should be.

Do you take Robitaille and Shanahan above Gretzky ? (and I took clear case HOF player and not more borderline case Ciccarelli-Glenn anderson or Andreychuk and 2 that did play a lot without injuries issues has well).

If I was the 1980 Oilers I do not trade Gretzky for those 2.

 

[nowhereman]

A Crosby/Malkin team never missed the playoffs even when Crosby/Malkin were both on the shelf for a season at the same time.

Might have something to do with always having a Gonchar/Letang/Dumolin/Schultz/Whitney/Goligoski/Orpik/etc defense and firm #1G, plus well positioned depth in the face of Kunitz, Staal, Sutter, Bonino, Kessel, Hornqvist, you name it

Wow, that's pretty damn unspectacular. All this does is make Crosby and Malkin look even better...