Most skilled player of all time? maybe. Best player of all time? i doubt it

Sorry, I'm a Wayne Gretzky voter. That's because I was an Islander fan in the 80's and then got to watch him in person when he came here to Los Angeles.

I agree. The league is more skilled now. But that doesn't mean Mcdavid is the best of all time,

If you took some of those players and put them in this era with improved sports science from a fitness standpoint and improvements in injury recovery (Bobby or, Rick martin, cam neeley) things would different too. Hard to compare eras

I mean, if you took prime lucic and dropped him untouched unto the mid 80s hed be the 'best player ever'.

All hockey played before the dead puck era is a different sport.

hot take, mcdavid will be the best player to never win a cup

I don't think has a big enough track record and he hasn't won a cup yet either. I'm thinking he isn't the best of all time. Maybe most skilled, but definitely not the greatest.

Hate to say it but the fact that it’s still slightly debated between Crosby and McDavid is telling. I’d say that McDavid is an amazing player but Crosby in his Prime could have been better if it wasn’t for the concussion issues, Crosby probably would have been looking at Gretzky’s records if he didn’t have the concussion issues for 3 years that limited his play to only 99 games from 2010-2013 where he was still way over the point per game pace. If he was healthy and hit on his career 1.28 point per game for the full 15 year, he would have hit 1,575 points at the end of the year putting him in 12th in only 1,230 GP.

Not saying McDavid won’t look at those records either. Posting a career 1.34 points per game and he’d have to keep that pace for 20+ years to break Gretzky’s record and that’s with a full 82 game season season.

Honestly no ones is going to come close to that record. McDavud and Crosby are two of the best players to ever play the game and they won’t come close to it. He had a 1.92 point per game, over 200 points 4 times and played in an era where the opponent would have murdered him given the chance. McDavid and Crosby play in a much different NHL based on speed, skill and offense. Gretzky was in the fighting and goon era where everything was about taking peoples heads off.

Honestly It would be interesting to see all 3 if they played in the same era in their primes, they might be very similar players.

McDavid will have to learn to play defense before he gets any consideration from me.

I think Crosby is still better than him in the conversation of best player ever. Crosby is a game changer on every level, every inch of the ice, McDavid's defensive numbers aren't quite there yet. If you want to be considered the best player ever, you gotta play some defense.

The argument you can make is if Wayne Gretzky or Bobby Orr grew up in today’s age, who’s to say Bobby Orr wouldn’t be as great or greater skater as McDavid. The whole generational debate has to go both ways and it’s almost impossible to say.

He's got a long ways to go before he's in that conversation. He's definitely the most gifted and the most electric guy in the game right now. But if he doesn't start playing a full two-way game, he's going to be left off the Stanley Cup and out of the conversation.

Since '09 here are the 1C's of the winning cup teams: Crosby (3 times), Toews (3 times), Kopitar (2 times), Bergeron (1 time), Backstrom (1 time), and O'Reilly (1 time). All of those centers have the same thing in common, they play a complete 2-way game.

I get your argument about the points but Gretzky has rings to back up his play. So even if McDavid wins more Art Ross trophies than Gretzky, he won't be the greatest in my mind until he has the rings to back it up.

Definitely can argue the most gifted of all time. Could possibly be the greatest of all time when it's all said and done. But he's got a LONG ways to go before that is the case.

Exactly. It’s so hard to compare eras due to the amount of advancements the sport has made.

He could. But he’s never gonna win a cup as long as he’s on Edmonton

This is why i love watching old basketball games, cuz they look like me out there with their really high dribbles and funky looking layups and terrible shots.
In all sports, people are being trained younger and almost like they are bred to play the sport



Bobby orr is a special case too, he was that much better than everyone as a dman, and he faced a lot of injuries so imagine him playing with todays treatment, technology, and knowledge. Im thinking he could theoretically still be a Karlsson (with the Sens) type player, but like much much better.