Comparing players against eras is hard and adjusted points just don't sit right with me. I thought a new way of doing so is by calculating the standard deviation of a data set and see how far off the Art Ross winner is.
I've compiled a list of the top 101 scorers of every year since 1967-68 and found the mean, standard deviation and how many standard deviations the Art Ross winner is away from the mean. If anyone knows a place to host the Excel file I'll gladly put it up.
A few things of note
The Art Ross winner isn't calculated into the mean (numbers 2-101 are).
I don't have pre 67-68 data for no other reason than I'm lazy.
These numbers don't attempt to take into account teammates or injuries.
But until then I thought I'd throw some graphs up.
Mean of Top 100 Scorers
This doesn't quite follow up nicely to the GPG graph that gets thrown around. I have a comparison later on. The 80s still dominate though.
Standard Deviation of Art Ross Winner Away From Mean
As you can see, the Gretzky years are so much farther ahead of everyone. Its also interesting to note that all the years except for '81 to '89 are within a much smaller frame. If not for Gretzky and Lemieux it looks like Phil Esposito could make a run at the best forward on this list.
Standard Deviation of Top 100 Scorers
I'm not exactly sure how to interpret this data. Is the talent level growing closer as the league gets closer to now?
Best Art Ross Years
I neglected to include years where the number 2 did really well. When I have time I'll make a new list with them.
| Year | Player | Standard Deviations |
| 1987 | Wayne Gretzky | 8.131 |
| 1983 | Wayne Gretzky | 7.959 |
| 1986 | Wayne Gretzky | 7.746 |
| 1984 | Wayne Gretzky | 7.514 |
| 1982 | Wayne Gretzky | 7.302 |
| 1985 | Wayne Gretzky | 7.183 |
| 1989 | Mario Lemieux | 6.213 |
| 1971 | Phil Esposito | 5.598 |
| 1974 | Phil Esposito | 5.530 |
| 1981 | Wayne Gretzky | 5.397 |
| 1991 | Wayne Gretzky | 5.203 |
| 1988 | Mario Lemieux | 5.073 |
| 1970 | Bobby Orr | 4.937 |
| 1977 | Guy Lafleur | 4.717 |
| 1999 | Jaromir Jagr | 4.679 |
| 1996 | Mario Lemieux | 4.521 |
| 2012 | Evgeni Malkin | 4.511 |
| 1978 | Guy Lafleur | 4.487 |
| 1972 | Phil Esposito | 4.475 |
| 1969 | Phil Esposito | 4.309 |
| 1980 | Marcel Dionne | 3.982 |
| 1997 | Mario Lemieux | 3.915 |
| 1973 | Phil Esposito | 3.906 |
| 2001 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.874 |
| 1993 | Mario Lemieux | 3.848 |
| 1990 | Wayne Gretzky | 3.832 |
| 1975 | Bobby Orr | 3.797 |
| 1979 | Bryan Trottier | 3.769 |
| 2006 | Joe Thornton | 3.749 |
| 2011 | Daniel Sedin | 3.681 |
| 1992 | Mario Lemieux | 3.665 |
| 2009 | Evgeni Malkin | 3.641 |
| 1994 | Wayne Gretzky | 3.551 |
| 2008 | Alexander Ovechkin | 3.519 |
| 2002 | Jarome Iginla | 3.484 |
| 2007 | Sidney Crosby | 3.464 |
| 2010 | Henrik Sedin | 3.438 |
| 1995 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.414 |
| 1998 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.347 |
| 2004 | Martin St. Louis | 3.203 |
| 1976 | Guy Lafleur | 3.201 |
| 2003 | Peter Forsberg | 3.145 |
| 1968 | Stan Mikita | 3.044 |
| 2000 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.001 |
Some interesting things to note
Jagr's 2000 year is the worst post expansion Art Ross win. But he missed 19 games.
Malkin's 2011-2012 season was the best season since Jagr was in beast mode. It's also the 6th best non-Lemieux/Gretzky season on the list.
Gretzky is really, REALLY good.
Orr's 1970 season is a higher offensive peak than Jagr.
Crosby and Ovi didn't peak as high as I was expecting.
If Crosby and Malkin's 2011 and 2012 PPG remained constant and they played 82 games their seasons would go down as some of the best ever AND they would have peaked higher than Jagr.
Even if you give Lemieux the biggest benefit of the doubt (his 160 in 60 season) he still only ends up with the 6th best season.
Now, because I know everyone is going to complain about injuries I thought I'd throw this in. Its a little table of some noteworthy injury seasons assuming PPG was constant
| Year | Player | Actual STD | Injury Adjusted STD |
| 1984 | Wayne Gretzky | 7.514 | 8.515 |
| 1989 | Mario Lemieux | 6.213 | 6.720 |
| 1992 | Mario Lemieux | 3.665 | 5.784 |
| 1993 | Mario Lemieux | 3.848 | 7.187 |
| 1996 | Mario Lemieux | 4.521 | 5.985 |
| 1999 | Jaromir Jagr | 4.679 | 4.820 |
| 2000 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.001 | 5.558 |
| 2011 | Sidney Crosby | 0.354 | 6.109 |
| 2012 | Evgeni Malkin | 4.511 | 5.489 |
Another benefit of this is allowing cross-year comparisons. Take the Art Ross Deviation and compare it to the mean. Boom. You have an estimate. Some estimates for thought.
| Original Year | Player | New Year | New Year Point Total |
| 1987 | Wayne Gretzky | 2012 | 146 |
| 2012 | Evgeni Malkin | 1987 | 133 |
| 1987 | Wayne Gretzky | 1993 | 242 |
| 1970 | Bobby Orr | 2012 | 113 |
Some notable numbers from non-AR seasons
| Year | Player | Standard Deviations |
| 1988 | Wayne Gretzky | 4.030 |
| 1989 | Wayne Gretzky | 4.640 |
| 1989 | Steve Yzerman | 3.980 |
| 1991 | Brett Hull | 3.400 |
| 1993 | Pat LaFontaine | 3.222 |
| 1996 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.894 |
| 2001 | Joe Sakic | 3.653 |
| 2006 | Jaromir Jagr | 3.607 |
