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The Three Best Players the New York Rangers Have Ever Had

By Conor Power

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: New York Rangers Alumni Brian Leetch, Ron Duguay, Glenn Anderson, Tom Laidlaw, Rod Gilbert, Nick Fotiu, Chris Kotsopoulos, Ron Greschner, Stephane Matteau, Colton Orr, Steve Vickers, Brian Mullen and Adam Graves attend Ronald McDonald House New York's Skate With The Greats on February 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Ronald McDonald House New York)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: New York Rangers Alumni Brian Leetch, Ron Duguay, Glenn Anderson, Tom Laidlaw, Rod Gilbert, Nick Fotiu, Chris Kotsopoulos, Ron Greschner, Stephane Matteau, Colton Orr, Steve Vickers, Brian Mullen and Adam Graves attend Ronald McDonald House New York's Skate With The Greats on February 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Ronald McDonald House New York) /
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25 Nov 1997: Center Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers skates down the ice during a game against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The Canucks won the game 4-2.
25 Nov 1997: Center Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers skates down the ice during a game against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The Canucks won the game 4-2. /

Wayne Gretzky

If you thought anyone but the best player in NHL history was going to top this list, I’m not quite sure what to tell you. He’s the most outstanding player in Hockey History. Wayne Gretzky was good enough to get the league to unanimously retire his number across the league, you think I’m not going to have him as the best player to ever play for this organization because he only spent three years in New York.

It’s weird that some of the younger people that read this will not have seen Wayne Gretzky play. Gretzky still holds almost every NHL record, but my personal favorite is that if you remove every single one of the 894 goals he scored in the NHL, he’d still be number one all time in points with just his assists. No one has more goals or points than the Great One. If you take just his totals from his time in Edmonton, he’d still be top 10 in point production all time today.

Gretzky has quite the extension trophy cabinet to match. A nine (9) time Hart Trophy winner as league MVP, a 5 time Ted Lindsey award winner as MVP as voted by the players, a 5 time Lady Byng winner, a 10 time Art Ross winner as the top point producer in the league, 2 Conn Smythe Trophys as MVP of the playoffs, and 4 Stanley Cup rings. This man has more silverware than the most of the league’s teams do.

If you want to look at single season records, Gretzky did those too. He scored 212 points in thee 1981-82 season. It was a record that seemed untouchable, even during the 1980s. It fell a few years later to… Gretzky himself. In 1985-86, Gretzky put up 215 points. That record does still stand today. His single season goals record in cause you were wondering was the 1981-21 season. He had just the 92.

He’s one of, if not the single greatest player to ever play this sport. His dominance over 20 years in this league proves this. For many, he is considered the best. It’s hard to disagree. Looking at his body of work, he’s done things that no other player has done. Almost every record in the NHL is held by Gretzky because he was such a dominant force on the ice. Not too bad for a player that was undrafted in the NHL.

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