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.