I find it a little weird that Mats Naslund is considered a great Swede while Markus has a "perhaps" in front of him. I have several Swedes on my list, Markus being the highest coming in just a couple spots ahead of Alfredsson. Mats was left off.
It's because I think Alfie and Mats showed better longevity, a better allround play, and proved themselves in more environments.
Markus was extremely good at a young age, for example at age 15 when playing with Forsberg but also during age 17-18. Then Forsberg got ahead, which could be seen at age 20 when Forsberg set his still standing point record in the World Juniors.
Markus left Sweden to play in the NHL, while Forsberg stayed in Sweden and led his MoDo to the playoff final, in something that for me still is the most memorable season by a Swedish player in a Swedish league. (MoDo won the first two games of the best-of-five series, one of them by a memorable goal by Forsberg. But the "money rich" Malmo, having stars like Mats Naslund on their team, as expected turned it around and won 3-2. It's after the final loss that Forsberg first breaks his stick, and then gives the classic interview where he wants to punch the referee.)
Forsberg played great for Sweden too, in the World Championship and in the 1994 Olympics. While Markus struggled somewhat in the NHL, Forsberg was an immediate star just like Mats Sundin had been, and both continued to be that during the rest of their careers. A couple of years later, Alfie came around and won the Calder as rookie of the year, and he like Sundin became a captain. Markus had a tougher time, speding parts of his first two seasons in the minors.
It wasn't until age 25 that things in the NHL started to improve for Markus, as Vancouver star Pavel Bure (their top scorer the previous season) was out of play. A couple of seasons later, as Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison had entered "average prime age", Markus started becoming a star player competing for the scoring title. He peaked somewhat late scoring wise, at age 29, finishing 2nd to Forsberg in the scoring, but then his production started to decrease for each season.
When playing for Sweden, Markus did score but still I - and others too - thought he appeared one-dimensional. He had a great shot, and he could stick handle very well, but it was like we viewers and the commentators thought he wasn't among the biggest stars of the team. He was not as good as Alfie (always reliable, team player, leadership qualities, great defensively), Sundin (THE star along with Forsberg, tremendous leader when Sweden last won the Olympics) or Mats Naslund (great flow, very smart, always reliable).
Maybe it was some sort of "mental" thing. Markus seems like a very deep and humble person. During his last years I think he also several said he felt rather tired of hockey. Perhaps he used to feel a lot of pressure on his shoulders, I have no idea.
Of course Markus was a great player, with a great peak. Very good in different environments. Produced a lot. But there is still the feeling that Mats and Alfie were better overall players and more useful for a team. They were sort of easy to place on just about any line, always being reliable and productive.
