To what extent can this be backed up by facts, however? Not as in back up that he was amazing, of course he was, but the claim that his status as a points producer would be higher had he not been with the Wings? There are tons of players with great skill that you hear fans mention as "had he only played in that system, on another team, in some other circumstances etc." But how much offensive opportunity can you really give up if you're on a top team's first or second line, and first powerplay unit? And how much offense did the Wings "give up" because of a defensive system?
I'll post Fedorov's positions in P/G again (first number after season indicator), but also add the Wings' position in G/G as a team for each of his seasons with them (second number after season).
Entered league at age 21
Season
90/91 31 10
91/92 26 4
92/93 29 1
93/94 5 1
94/95 10 3
95/96 7 3
96/97 41 6
97/98 TFG (40) 2
98/99 39 3
99/00 28 1
00/01 48 5
01/02 41 2
02/03 14 1
03/04 38 2
04/05 DNP (lockout)
05/06 144
06/07 167
07/08 139
08/09 132
Retired at age 40
19 seasons included in survey.
Number of seasons as 1st: -
Number of seasons in top 5: 1
Number of seasons in top 10: 3
Years in/outside top 10 ratio: 3/16, 15.78%
I skipped the Wings G/G rank the last years as he was older and not with the Wings anymore.
Anyway, looking at this: A top forward with a top team, how hampered were his numbers really by a defensive system? Detroit wasn't just fine at scoring. They were elite at it over this era. Some of those 1st places by them in G/G are with quite some margin even. So, again, how much offense did the Wings "give up" due to this very defensive system you refer to? Were they the Harlem Globetrotters of the NHL that opted to be the top scoring team with lesser margin than they could´ve?
Also, again, really not trying to be a Fedorov hater
Far from it. It's just interesting to actually look at facts to the extent it's possible. I'm not saying this gives us a definitie truth, but it shows at least how it's very hard to claim the Wings held back offense because of a defensive system. They were the elite team at scoring goals during this era. As a first/second line player and first PP unit player (correct me if Im wrong on this one) on such a team, the team really can't be an excuse for not being an elite point producer.
A more valid argument I guess is how stacked teams sometimes divide the scoring more equally over more players, without one or two stand outs. This could be said about the Avs too in Forsberg's years (that they were stacked), however. And at the same time there are plenty of examples of the top team also having the flashy top scorer.
I say Fedorov was an amazing player, of course. An elite two way center. Among the best of his generation. It's really hard to claim he was an elite point producer, however. He was top 10 in P/G 3 out of his 18 seasons. Top 5 once. And he did this playing the first two thirds of his career on the top scoring team in the league (a few times by quite some margin too). That's not personal opinion or assessment of talent level by the eye (one could praise Kovalev for that too, and so on). It's facts.