To answer these questions, we'll look at the top handful of centers from 92-93. In
bold are HHOFers,
underlined are those expected to be inducted soon.
Player|Season|%1st|%2nd|Linemates
Lemieux
|92-93|1.44|1.47|Stevens, Tocchet
LaFontaine
|92-93|1.17|2.43|Mogilny, Andreychuk
Oates
|92-93|1.39|1.97|Juneau, Kvartalnov
Yzerman
|92-93|1.41|4.57|
Ciccarelli
, Gallant
Turgeon|92-93|1.52|1.74|Thomas, King
Gilmour
|92-93|1.71|1.95|Borschevsky,
Anderson
Roenick|92-93|1.53|2.43|Larmer,
Goulet
Janney|92-93|1.05|1.13|
Hull
,
Shanahan
Sakic
|92-93|0.92|1.54|
Sundin
, Kovalenko
Three things really stand out. Alexander Mogilny's 76 goal season, Dave Andreychuk's ~50 games as a Sabre before being traded, and Gerard Gallant being massively outscored. Every linemate except those three is within the 1.39 to 1.97 range.
The lowest-scoring linemates on the list:
Glenn Anderson 65pts
Dave Andreychuk (BUF only) 61pts
Gerard Gallant 30pts
Now here are the top two centers from each Norris division team, separated by team and in order by points, separated by line (first six players are first-liners, then second-liners, etc.):
Player|Team|Season|%1st|%2nd|Linemates
Yzerman
|DET|92-93|1.41|4.57|
Ciccarelli
, Gallant
Gilmour
|TOR|92-93|1.71|1.95|Borschevsky,
Anderson
Roenick|CHI|92-93|1.53|2.43|Larmer,
Goulet
Janney|STL|92-93|1.05|1.13|
Hull
,
Shanahan
Modano
|MIN|92-93|1.18|2.33|Courtnall, McPhee
Bradley|TB|92-93|1.54|1.69|Tucker, Kontos
Fedorov
|DET|92-93|1.40|1.98|Ysebaert, Drake
Gagner|MIN|92-93|1.03|2.00|Dahlen, Craig
Emerson|STL|92-93|1.59|2.70|Miller, Korolev
Ruuttu|CHI|92-93|1.46|1.69|Gilbert, Graham
Cullen|TOR|92-93|1.00|1.03|Krushelnyski, Clark
Creighton|TB|92-93|0.91|1.26|Zamuner, Bureau
Sutter|CHI|92-93|1.64|1.80|Matteau, Noonan
Carson|DET|92-93|0.77|1.60|Sheppard, Primeau
Now let's look at the 1955-56 season's top scoring centers. I've included the top two centers from each team (plus the #3 from Detroit, Chicago, and Montreal); in order of scoring by line (top-six are first-liners, and so-on):
Player|Team|Season|%1st|%2nd|Linemates
Beliveau
|MTL|55-56|1.26|1.42|
Olmstead
,
Geoffrion
Sloan|TOR|55-56|1.38|1.78|
Armstrong
,
Duff
Reibel|DET|55-56|0.71|1.12|
Howe
,
Lindsay
Sullivan|CHI|55-56|1.52|1.74|
Litzenberger
, Wilson
Popein|NYR|55-56|0.59|0.93|
Bathgate
, Prentice
Gardner|BOS|55-56|1.71|1.95|Stasiuk, Peirson
Delvecchio
|DET|55-56|2.68|3.40|Dineen, Ferguson
Creighton|NYR|55-56|1.16|1.28|Murphy, Hergesheimer
H.Richard
|MTL|55-56|0.56|0.80|
M.Richard
,
Moore
McKenney|BOS|55-56|1.00|2.13|Labine, MacKell
Migay|TOR|55-56|1.04|1.47|Stewart, Balfour
Skov|CHI|55-56|0.69|1.23|Mickoski, Leswick
Ciesla|CHI|55-56|1.19|1.24|Lalande, Watson
Mosdell|MTL|55-56|0.94|1.03|Curry, Provost
Ullman
|DET|55-56|0.64|1.00|Prystai, Pavelich
And Ullman was a rookie who saw limited action.
I'm not seeing where 55-56 has better top-end centers, based on HHOF voting. In fact, Montreal's general strength at forward over the other teams is pretty evident. If we are to assume that HHOF voting properly represents greatness, then it's fair to say that Yzerman was playing against equal competition in his division and greater competition league-wide. And Yzerman was among the scoring leaders with what were clearly the weakest linemates, while Beliveau led in scoring with what were clearly the strongest linemates. Beliveau's wingers actually scored five more points (132-127) than Yzerman's wingers did, despite the season being 14 games shorter and the league average scoring level being lower. I think it's also interesting to note that Yzerman outscored both of his wingers combined by ten points, while Beliveau only scored at 2/3 the rate of his wingers' total.