Top 10 NHL Players of the Modern Era

1. Mario Lemieux

Point Shares per Game: 0.18

Of the 10 players on this list, only Mario Lemieux had somewhat of a short-lived career. He still played 17 seasons and 915 games, but every other player listed here has played at least 20 seasons and 1,300 career regular season contests.

By cumulative point shares, Lemieux ranks 12th, but per game, he's the best.

Over the course of his Hall of Fame career, Lemieux accounted for 167.9 point shares, of which the wide majority (152.4) came as a result of his elite offensive skill. He added 15.5 defensively.

A center and left-winger by trait, Lemieux naturally obtained a large number of his 1,723 career points on goals alone -- 690 of them, to be exact. Lemieux also assisted on 1,033 goals, tallying 1.88 points per game through his career with the Penguins -- the second-best rate in history.

Lemieux's single best season took place back in 1988-89 when he totaled 19.6 point shares, 199 points and 85 goals in 76 games. In that, his fifth season, he won the Art Ross Trophy on a team that lost in the Division Finals of the NHL Playoffs. But, he and the Pens would have better outcomes in great Mario seasons.

Lemieux led Pittsburgh to NHL titles in 1991 and 1992. He won the Conn Smythe on both occasions and added five more Art Ross awards and three regular season MVPs. He also appeared in 10 All-Star games on his way to being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.