My favourite team growing up was the Edmonton Oilers, mostly because of Wayne Gretzky. But, there were a lot of things that could have led the Great One down a different path entirely, to a different team, to a different country, even to a different sport.
Sometimes I don’t think we know how lucky we are to have the Wayne Gretzky that we know and love. So, today I’m looking at all the Wayne Gretzky “what-if?” scenarios to really highlight how grateful we should be for the Great One.
What If wayne gretzky was included in the 1979 nhl draft?
When the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, four franchises moved from the Dub to the NHL, including the Edmonton Oilers. At the time, Wayne Gretzky was only 18 years old, and the NHL had a strict rule stating that nobody under 20 was allowed to play in the league. So, the NHL insisted that WHA players under 20 wouldn’t be allowed to stay with their team in the merger, and would instead have to be entered into the NHL Entry Draft.
TWIST! Wayne Gretzky didn’t have a typical WHA contract. No, he had a personal services contract to Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, and Gretz refused to terminate the contract. So, the NHL gave in and allowed the Oilers to keep Gretzky in the merger.
But, what if he had been entered into the 1979 NHL Entry Draft?
Well, he certainly would’ve been taken #1 overall, and made his NHL debut in a Colorado Rockies hockey jersey on his 20th birthday in 1982 when the Rockies faced-off against the Philadelphia Flyers in Denver (a 7–4 win for the Rockies that snapped an eight-game winless streak).
So, that means there’s a good chance that the Great One would’ve been with the franchise when they relocated to New Jersey in 1982. And that means he would have played in the same division as the mighty New York Islanders, with a squad whose most notable players were Aaron Broten and Joel Quenneville.
All the “Mickey Mouse” drama in 1983 would have been avoided. What’s the Mickey Mouse drama? Well, November 19, 1983 after the Devils took a 13-4 shot kicking from the Oilers, Gretzky was frustrated because his buddy, former Oiler Ron Low was the Devils goalie for 8 of them and didn’t start the third period.
Even though Gretzky posted 3 goals and 5 assists in this game he didn’t like embarrassing his friend and told the press, “Well, it’s time they got their act together. They’re ruining the whole league. They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization and put somebody on the ice.”
The Devils fans did not like this! For years the fans made signs taunting Gretzky calling HIM the Mickey Mouse! Tables turned! Well, for those seasons Gretzky set all sorts of offensive records and won a bunch of cups. Their taunts didn’t work.
Devils fans making sure Gretz knows that his comments were not appreciated.
what if gretzky played baseball instead of hockey
One of the more obscure facts about Wayne Gretzky is that he was a very good baseball player and was actually offered a tryout and a $150,000 signing bonus by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1977. And, he was about to sign the deal when Walter Gretzky — legendary hockey dad that he was — ripped the pen out of 16-year-old Wayne’s hand and told him to go back to school.
But, what if Walter was in the bathroom and Wayne had inked that deal?
Well, if Wayner had impressed the Jays, he might have played alongside another multi-sport athlete, Danny Ainge who played with the Blue Jays for three years before joining the Boston Celtics in the NBA in 1981.
Maybe Ainge’s move would’ve inspired Gretz to do the same and get back to hockey. If so, he might have been taken #1 in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets instead of Dale Hawerchuk, who would’ve landed in Los Angeles.
But if Wayne stuck with baseball, then Jari Kurri would have 364 less goals, and maybe the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames would have won the Stanley Cup a few times in the 1980s.
Baseball Gretzky seems like a glitch in the matrix, but it’s not!
what if gretzky hadn't been traded?
Every hockey fan knows where they were on August 9th, 1988. The Trade. Wayne Gretzky to LA for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, a bunch of cash, and three first round picks. Edmonton tossed in Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to sweeten the pot.
But, what if “The Trade” never materialized?
Firstly, Gretzky would’ve won a fifth cup with Edmonton in 1990. But, perhaps more significantly, Bernie Nicholls would not have had his brain-breaking 150-point season in ‘88-’89.
It’s pretty incredible looking at Nicholls’ stats and seeing that 72-point leap that season, and his equally impressive 77-point drop-off from that career high in his first full post-Wayne season.
Wayne Gretzky at the press conference addressing “the trade”.
what if gretzky was in the nagano shootout?
Nothing changes. Dominik Hasek was in full beast mode in 1998. Nobody was scoring on him.
The Dominator, dominating.
what if gretzky had been plagued with injuries like mario?
One of the more impressive and less talked about Wayne Gretzky stats was his ability to stay fairly healthy throughout his 19 year career. The Great One only posted two seasons with less than 70 games, not including the shortened 94-95 season in which he played in all 48 regular season contests.
But, many believe that Mario Lemieux could have matched or exceeded Gretzky’s numbers if he were able to stay healthy. As it was, Mario only played 915 games, notching 690 goals, 1,033 apples, and 1,723 total points.
If we take Gretzky’s per-game averages, and apply that to just 915 games, Wayne still comes out on top with 1,758 points (good for 7th all-time), and 1,207 assists, but he would’ve only accumulated 550 goals. Which would not only mean that Mario would’ve been the more prolific goal-scorer, but Alex Ovechkin would already have the all-time goal-scoring title, and Jaromir Jagr would be the all-time points leader.
Mario Lemieux skates a lap with the Stanley Cup.
what if the gretzkys never left belarus?
As iconic as Wayne Gretzky was in his Oilers and Kings jerseys, his appearances for Team Canada are the stuff of legends. Who could forget that beauty pass to Lemieux to seal the 1987 Canada Cup victory for the Canadian side?
But, what if Wayne’s grandparents, Anton and Maria Gretzky, never left Belarus to come to Canada?
Gretzky still would have played in those legendary Canada Cup tournaments — but he would’ve been wearing a USSR hockey sweater.
It also means that he probably wouldn’t have made his way to the NHL until 1989. Back in the ‘80s, the world was in the grips of the Cold War, and Soviet players were not allowed to make the leap across the pond to play in the NHL. While many Soviet players were drafted in the mid ‘80s, like Slava Fetisov, Sergei Makarov, and the legendary Vladislav Tretiak, they had to wait until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 to be able to play for their NHL team. Some, like Tretiak, never made it.
Gretzky would’ve been caught up in the political mess of the times, and would have had to wait until the 1989-90 season to make his NHL debut. And who knows who he would’ve played for. The first overall pick in 1989 was Mats Sundin. If the Nords used that pick to take Gretzky, then everybody would have slid down a spot. Sundin would’ve gone to the Islanders, Nicklas Lidstrom would’ve been scooped up by the Nordiques, and Sergei Fedorov would’ve been a North Star.
But, more likely, Gretzky would’ve been taken in an earlier draft. Many teams were drafting Soviet stars in the mid-80s, but in later rounds as there was no guarantee they’d even be able to come play in the NHL. Wayne Gretzky, being of similar age to Igor Larionov, probably would’ve gone in the same draft year — 1985 — maybe somewhere in the eighth round.
There were a few teams at the time who seemed especially interested in drafting Soviet talent. One of them was the New Jersey Devils who had the 3rd pick in the 8th round of the 1985 draft. Purely a guess, but that’s where I figure Soviet Gretzky would’ve landed.
If that were the case we would’ve been robbed of Gretzky’s greatest years. No 200-plus point seasons. No 50 goals in 39 games. No 92-goal season. None. Ni adzin.
Assuming the same capabilities, if Comrade Wayne got to play in the NHL from 1989 to 1999, he would have scored 1,020 points in 713 games. For comparison, in that same timespan, Igor Larionov scored just 460 points.
So, he still would’ve been pretty great.
Wayne and Walter sit down to read some classic literature.
what if gretzky went to the leafs instead of the rangers?
Wayne Gretzky had every intention of retiring as a St. Louis Blue, but for various reasons, it didn’t materialise. At 35, he became an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team he wanted. Gretzky was interested in joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Leafs’ ownership, aiming to cut costs, found the $5 million annual salary he commanded too steep.
But what if things had been different? The Leafs might not have been in “dump mode” during the 1996-97 season, when they traded away key players like Doug Gilmour, Larry Murphy, and Kirk Muller, ultimately missing the playoffs that year and the next. Gretzky’s presence could have significantly altered their fate.
Fast forward to the 1998-99 season, Gretzky’s final year. The Leafs had a strong regular season with Curtis Joseph excelling in goal, leading them to the Stanley Cup semi-finals where they faced Dominic Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres. Gretzky’s last playoff run in 1996-97 with the Rangers saw him scoring 10 goals and 10 assists in 15 games, demonstrating that his playoff hunger was still very much alive. In a series where most games were decided by just 1-2 goals, Gretzky could have been the difference-maker. It’s worth noting that in his last playoff game in Toronto, Gretzky scored a hat trick.
Had Gretzky joined the Leafs, perhaps the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup would have been the 1999 Toronto Maple Leafs, led by Canada’s favourite son.
Somewhere in another universe, these jerseys makes sense.
what if gretzky wore different hockey jerseys?
Would a Gretzky game-worn hockey jersey be worth what it is today if any of these scenarios come true? Would kids in New Jersey have begged their parents for a Wayne Gretzky hockey sweater for Christmas? Would Wayne have worn number 99 if he grew up in the Soviet Union?
Thankfully, we’ll never know. Given all of these scenarios, I think it’s safe to say we live in the best timeline (except for maybe the Nagano thing). As a kid, my friends used to say that if they could travel back in time, they’d tell the Winnipeg Jets about Gretzky. Hopefully time travel never happens.
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A young Gretz sits down for a meal at his local McDonald’s.
