Sergei Fedorov (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #68)
Adjusted Stats
1990-1991 Det 79 GP 28 goals 44 assists 72 points 0.91 PPG
1991-1992 Det 82 GP 29 goals 49 assists 78 points 0.95 PPG
1992-1993 Det 71 GP 28 goals 44 assists 72 points 1.01 PPG
1993-1994 Det 80 GP 52 goals 59 assists 111 points 1.39 PPG
1994-1995 Det 72 GP 35 goals 53 assists 88 points 1.23 PPG
1995-1996 Det 78 GP 38 goals 66 assists 105 points 1.34 PPG
1996-1997 Det* 74 GP 32 goals 35 assists 66 points 0.90 PPG
1997-1998 Det* 21 GP 7 goals 13 assists 20 points 0.94 PPG
1998-1999 Det 77 GP 30 goals 43 assists 74 points 0.95 PPG
1999-2000 Det 68 GP 30 goals 39 assists 69 points 1.02 PPG
2000-2001 Det 75 GP 36 goals 41 assists 77 points 1.03 PPG
2001-2002 Det* 81 GP 36 goals 43 assists 80 points 0.99 PPG
2002-2003 Det 80 GP 42 goals 54 assists 96 points 1.20 PPG
2003-2004 Ana 80 GP 37 goals 41 assists 78 points 0.97 PPG
2005-2006 Ana/Cbj 67 GP 12 goals 33 assists 45 points 0.67 PPG
2006-2007 Cbj 73 GP 19 goals 26 assists 45 points 0.61 PPG
2007-2008 Cbj/Wsh 68 GP 12 goals 34 assists 46 points 0.68 PPG
2008-2009 Wsh 52 GP 12 goals 24 assists 36 points 0.68 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1990-1991 Det 7 GP 1 goal 4 assists 5 points 0.73 PPG
1991-1992 Det 11 GP 4 goals 4 assists 9 points 0.79 PPG
1992-1993 Det 7 GP 2 goals 5 assists 7 points 1.06 PPG
1993-1994 Det 7 GP 1 goal 7 assists 8 points 1.12 PPG
1994-1995 Det 17 GP 6 goals 15 assists 21 points 1.25 PPG
1995-1996 Det 19 GP 2 goals 17 assists 19 points 1.01 PPG
1996-1997 Det* 20 GP 8 goals 13 assists 21 points 1.05 PPG
1997-1998 Det* 22 GP 11 goals 11 assists 22 points 1.01 PPG
1998-1999 Det 10 GP 1 goal 9 assists 10 points 0.99 PPG
1999-2000 Det 9 GP 5 goals 5 assists 10 points 1.07 PPG
2000-2001 Det 6 GP 2 goals 6 assists 8 points 1.37 PPG
2001-2002 Det* 23 GP 6 goals 17 assists 23 points 0.98 PPG
2002-2003 Det 4 GP 1 goal 2 assists 4 points 0.89 PPG
2007-2008 Wsh 7 GP 1 goal 4 assists 5 points 0.75 PPG
2008-2009 Wsh 14 GP 1 goal 7 assists 8 points 0.59 PPG
Career - 1278 GP, 515 goals, 741 assists, 1258 points, 0.98 PPG
Career-Highs - 52 goals (93-94); 66 assists (95-96); 111 points (93-94); 1.39 PPG (93-94)
Avg. (18 seasons) - 71 GP, 29 goals, 41 assists, 70 points, 0.98 PPG
Peak Avg. (93-01) - 69 GP, 31 goals, 45 assists, 77 points, 1.11 PPG, 2 Cups
Playoff Career - 183 GP, 52 goals, 126 assists, 180 points, 0.98 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 11 goals (97-98); 17 assists (95-96); 23 points (01-02); 1.37 PPG (00-01)
Accolades - 1 MVP award, 2 Selke Trophies
All-Star Teams - 1-time 1st-team
3-time Stanley Cup Champion
The placement of Fedorov this high, or even on the Pyramid at all, may surprise you. It surprised me, to be honest. It's been two years since he retired, his legacy diminshes in the mind, and it's easy to remember his lackluster final five seasons and lump him in with Alexei Kovalev on the list of moody Russians who weren't as good as they should have been.
Could Fedorov have been better? Hard to say. Certainly, the glimmers that we saw during his MVP season of 1993-1994 were never reached again (although he came close, in 95-96). And there were times when Fedorov seemed flaky or disinterested. But contrary to the way his career has been painted, there weren't many nights with the Red Wings when Fedorov would take a night off. He was one of the premier defensive centers of his time, the fastest skater in the NHL, and a player who in the mid-1990s was one of the most marketable and recognizable names in hockey.
Sure, he hit a wall in his final five seasons, dropping off from consistently productive seasons of 80-90 points to the 40-50 range. He seemed disinterested at times with Anaheim, and when Brian Burke bravely traded Fedorov and his (too-big) contract to the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Ducks won the Cup, it seemed as if Fedorov had been a cancerous influence on the team. This more than anything detracted from Fedorov's reputation. But if you take a step back and think about it, Fedorov was 35 when his swoon began. His much-vaunted speed was beginning to leave him. How is this any different than the walls hit by Denis Savard and Bryan Trottier? Yet with those Canadian players, we chalk it up to age...when a Russian begins to drop off, it must be due to lack of motivation.
The fact is, for his thirteen years with the Red Wings, you always knew you were getting 70+ points and amazing defensive play from Fedorov (except in 1997, when he held out and almost was signed by the Carolina Hurricanes...again adding to Fedorov's reputation as a me-first athlete). While Fedorov had two of his worst regular seasons from 1996-1998, the two years the Red Wings won the Cup, he was always integral come postseason time. In the three championship years that Fedorov was a part of, he had 66 adjusted points in 65 playoff games. Yet we think of those teams as Yzerman's (and rightly so), and of course give credit to Lidstrom as well. Fedorov is the forgotten star of those great teams.
Again I ask: could he have been better? And having reviewed his career, I'd probably say yes: If he had the personality to challenge himself even harder and was blessed with a tenacious drive, Fedorov would certainly be better remembered. But we shouldn't forget how dominant Fedorov was when he was on his game, a two-way center perhaps bested only by Forsberg during his era. He may be classified as a textbook Russian underachiever like Kovalev, but a closer look shows that Fedorov, whether he lived up to his potential or not, achieved a hell of a lot.
(And as I will say in the entry on Pavel Bure, anyone who was banging Anna Kournikova on a regular basis gets major points on my list. And make no mistake, Fedorov was. Even when she was 15 and he was about 26! I never bought that whole "just friends" charade).
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