Among centres: he's definitely below Gretzky, Lemieux, Beliveau, Esposito, Mikita, Morenz, Clarke, Trottier and Messier. I'd say he's also behind guys like Milt Schmidt and Syl Apps. Put him in a class with guys like Yzerman (although I'd take Yzerman ahead of Sakic), Max Bentley, Henri Richard, Ted Kennedy, Newsy Lalonde and Nels Stewart. Take him ahead of former teammates Peter Forsberg and Peter Stastny, as well as guys like Ron Francis, Gilbert Perreault, Elmer Lach, Bill Cowley, Frank Boucher and Dave Keon.
As for his overall place in the game, he's somewhere in the top 45 to 60. There are a lot of centres in that echelon.