Whenever people debate about hockey’s greatest players, Wayne Gretzky’s name tops the list just about every time. 

If we were ranking hockey's greatest players from scratch in 2026, would Gretzky still finish No. 1?

We’re talking about “The Great One.” He retired in 1999 with 2,857 career regular-season points, and it’s a record that still stands today.

Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid are still standout players that we can’t ignore. Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr are in the conversation due to their powerful peak dominance. Before Gretzky, Gordie Howe set all sorts of records over 26 seasons.

A comparison of these all-time greats will help settle the debate over whether The Great One achieved untouchable status as the G.O.A.T.

G.O.A.T. Check: Gretzky’s Very Strong Case

Gretzky set such a high standard as a player that the NHL retired No. 99, and he remains the first and only one to have it done by the league. 

Looking at career assists, if we subtracted every goal Gretzky ever scored (all 894 of them), he would still be the NHL’s all-time points leader with 1,963. The top four career points leaders behind Gretzky are: 

• Jaromir Jagr, 1,921 
• Mark Messier, 1,887
• Gordie Howe, 1,850
• Ron Francis, 1,798

Regarding career assists, Francis ranks No. 2 with 1,249.  Crosby (1,107), Patrick Kane (892), and Evgeni Malkin (874) are the active career leaders who don’t have a realistic chance of catching up. 

Gretzky’s four Stanley Cups with the Oilers, nine Hart Trophies (MVP), and 10 Art Ross (points leader) trophies make the case even stronger. The 1981-82 season is hard to forget, as he scored 92 goals and 212 points. Then in 1985-86 he finished with 163 assists. These are among the 50+ records that Gretzky still holds. 

Did Ovechkin Change Part of the Argument?

Some might make a strong case for Ovechkin because he broke what seemed like an insurmountable career goals record that Gretzky held for 31 years. Ovi,  who is turning 41, has 929 career goals. 

Does becoming the greatest goal scorer ever give Ovechkin a realistic G.O.A.T. argument, or merely make him the greatest specialist in hockey history?

Ovechkin’s 1,687 career points are still 1,170 behind Gretzky. Howe (1,850), Lemieux (1,723), and Crosby (1,761) are all ahead of Ovechkin. 

Gretzky played in 208 postseason games, including six trips to the Stanley Cup Final.  

Ovechkin has only been part of Washington’s 2018 Stanley Cup championship team.

McDavid: The Modern Threat To Watch

Heading into the 2026-27 season, McDavid has already won five Ted Lindsay Awards, given to the league’s most outstanding player. It matches Gretzky’s total. 

The Oilers top center is only 29, and he already has 1,220 points, good enough for 47th overall. It only took him 794 games to get there. Gretzky and Lemieux are the two players to do it in fewer games. 

McDavid’s trophy case also includes three Hart Trophies, six Art Ross crowns, and a Conn Smythe Trophy (postseason MVP). Lord Stanley’s Cup is the one thing that McDavid is still missing. 

How good would McDavid need to be over the next several years to seriously challenge Gretzky?

Scoring-wise, McDavid has finished with a minimum of 100 points in all but two of his 11 seasons, both of which he played under 65 games. The forward still trails The Great One by more than 1,600 points. 

Four More GOAT Candidates

Mario Lemieux

When your nickname is “The Magnificent One” or “Le Magnifique,” you’re most likely going to be included in any hockey GOAT conversation.  

If it wasn’t for his health problems, which forced him to step away from the game several times, who knows what his career numbers would’ve been. He only played in 915 career games, and still finished with 1,723 career points, three Hart Trophies, and helped Pittsburgh win two Stanley Cups (he also facilitated three more Stanley Cups for Pittsburgh as an owner). Lemieux averaged nearly two points per game, and remains one of the great professional sports comeback stories.

Following a temporary retirement in the early 1990s, Lemieux returned and won two Art Ross Trophies. He was one of the best on the man-advantage, with his 236 power-play goals. 

Bobby Orr

If we changed the conversation to hockey’s defensive GOAT, Orr would be the runaway winner. We’re talking about an eight-time Norris Trophy winner, an award that’s handed out to the league’s top defenseman. No. 4 was and still is the only blueliner to capture the Art Ross Trophy after finishing the 1970 and 1975 seasons as the NHL scoring champion. The 1969-70 season is the one that’s hard to forget, as Orr won the Hart, Norris, Ross, and Conn Smythe trophies as his Bruins won the Stanley Cup.  

Orr’s eight Norris Trophies are still an NHL record. 

Imagine what Orr would’ve accomplished had knee injuries not limited his playing career to 12 seasons. He’s been retired since 1979, and his 915 career points still rank 13th all-time among NHL defensemen. Orr was limited to 657 career games. All 12 players ahead of him, including active stars Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, have played a minimum of 1,060 games.

Sidney Crosby

Crosby is another active player who has moved into the upper tier of all-time scoring despite playing in a substantially lower-scoring era than Gretzky. The Great One remains the last player and only player to finish a season with over 200 points. Crosby, entering his 22nd NHL season, has enjoyed sustained relevance across multiple NHL eras. Crosby will soon be moving up to fifth on the NHL’s all-time scoring list as Marcel Dionne (1,771) and Francis are well within striking distance. 

His career accolades also include three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, along with a pair of Hart and Conn Smythe trophies. 

He might be in his late 30s these days, but Crosby remains a key piece in the Penguins' offense with five-straight seasons of at least 74 points. 

Gordie Howe

Mr. Hockey is the one who was busy setting the records that Gretzky eventually broke. Older hockey fans might recall that March 1994 game when Gretzky broke Howe’s record. A strong argument can be made that Howe was keeping the G.O.A.T. seat warm. 

Howe enjoyed an extraordinary career that lasted 26 seasons between 1946 and 1980, with all but one of them being the Detroit Red Wings. He played in 1,767 career games, 280 more than Gretzky did. Add in his six Hart Trophies and four Stanley Cups, and Howe would probably have G.O.A.T. status today if it wasn’t for The Great One following in his footsteps.   

Is Gretzky Still No. 1?

The hockey G.O.A.T.  debate would be much easier to settle if everybody played during the same era. Today’s game is much more advanced with its technology, equipment, and training routines.   

Looking at past and present NHL greats, Gretzky remains No. 1  because nobody has been able to match his level of success.

The numbers pretty much speak for themselves:

• 2,857 points
• 1,963 assists
• 10 scoring titles
• 9 MVPs
• 4 Cups

Ovechkin may have finally taken one record from The Great One, but it’s important to remember he holds nearly all the others.

It’s very likely that no other number will ever be retired from the entire league as Gretzky was simply that special.