I think Peter Forsberg - had he played the full 82 games - would have the best season from a European player, considering just how fruitless teams’ offensive counterattacks were while he was on the ice (42 GA in 75 games; teams scored more against Sakic, 45 GA, in just 58 games). Credit it to teams being singularly focused on stopping Forsberg as opposed to trying to out-punch him offensively, but then it just makes the 116-per-82 pace even more impressive.
Not unexpectedly, teams scored 87 GA in 81 games while Jagr was on the ice, because he was on the ice a lot more. But the Penguins’ opponents also only scored 62 GA in 77 against Kovalev, so the devotion to shutting down Jagr may not have necessarily resulted in fewer offensive opportunities in the other direction.
Harder to get a gauge on the others. Fedorov was 71 GA in 82 games to Yzerman’s 62 GA in 58 games, but it’s probably better than it looks considering how much they overplayed him in Yzerman’s absence. Malkin’s 66 GA in 75 games doesn’t have a great comparison point with Crosby playing just 22 games.
Interesting, however, is the extent to which teams were not scoring while Ovechkin was on the ice in arguably his best year, 2010: just 44 GA in 72 games. I obviously wouldn’t suggest he’s anything in the same ballpark as Fedorov defensively - or even Forsberg, who was a great PKer for Colorado in his early years - but the extent to which he absorbed opponents’ attention and resources while so little happened against Washington is a statistic that caught me off-guard for that season. But it does seem to be more of a team-effect, as you look down the lineup - Morrison seeing 33 GA in 74 games. Kind of a tangent, but why on Earth did they not do something about their penalty kill?!
As for Selanne and Datsyuk, they would fare better in this had they not perfectly overlapped against Jagr and Ovechkin. 107 points in 75 games in the Dead Puck Era is nothing to scoff at, but if someone beats you out, you can’t have the best season overall.
