It was almost four decades ago that hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky was in Connor McDavid’s skates: The child prodigy making the move to play with the big boys in the NHL.

Yet the parallels are still there. The media spotlight. The fans’ hopes. The comparisons to previous stars. The questions about whether he’ll cut it.

“I remember them comparing me to Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy, then there was another kid who came along named Mario (Lemieux). Then it was Crosby,” Gretzky reminisced this week while in Edmonton shooting a TV commercial.

“Before you blink, they’re comparing some new 18-year-old to you,” the former Edmonton Oilers star added. “It goes by so fast.”

McDavid, who was selected first overall by the Oilers in the NHL entry draft in June, is coming to the NHL fresh from playing junior with the Erie Otters, where he was unstoppable.

In comparison, Gretzky had a year of preparation in the World Hockey Association in 1978-79 ­— a year that he found beneficial.

“The WHA was better than junior hockey, but wasn’t as good as the NHL. I had the one year to get groomed. I was playing against men, but not the best men in the NHL,” Gretzky said.

“Going right from junior to the NHL? That’s a big step for Connor. But he’s the one guy who can handle it. He’ll be fine. With his speed and his shot and his creativity and his hockey knowledge, that’s as good as anybody.”

McDavid also has size on his side; he’s 189 pounds.

How big was Gretzky at 18?

“I think I won my first scoring title when I was 159 pounds,” he said. “I don’t think I got to 160 until the age of 20.

“But I don’t know if that means quite so much. The players averaged about 187-188 pounds when I broke into the NHL at 18. Now it’s probably closer to 200 pounds on average. Guys are stronger and faster. Hard to compare then and now.”

But nobody is telling McDavid he’s too small and could use some more speed, the knocks on a young Gretzky.

“What’s going to surprise NHL people about Connor is he has an extra gear,” Gretzky pointed out. “When you think you’ve got him, he’ll pull away. That’s his strength.”

Former child prodigies who move to the NHL have suffocating pressure to succeed, of course. Was Gretzky ever scared that he couldn’t live up to the hype building after he racked up 110 points in the last WHA season?

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I never feared it, but I’ll tell you what … you have to respect the game and the players you’re playing with and playing against. You come to learn really quickly that you have to work really hard or you’ll be out real fast.”

With social media now and TV cameras in all the rinks, McDavid’s hockey steps have been chronicled daily for years. Maybe more than Gretzky’s.

“As much as Connor was sought after in Erie, it’ll be 10 times that in Edmonton, with the Oilers in the NHL,” Gretzky said.

“I don’t think it’ll be worse for Connor than it was for me, though. I’m emphatic about that. (Bobby) Orr had (the media glare). I had it. Then Mario came along. Then Crosby. Now Connor will have it. It’s part of the game and the great players thrive on it. They want that pressure, the added mark on them.”