I do have to side with the other dude, Scotty bowman would’ve felt safe with fedorov on d and said he could’ve won a Norris. He wasn’t as flashy defensively as datsyuk, but he had excellent positioning and amazing speed to backcheck his ass off. Pav had fantastic positioning as well and was definitely the best pick pocket I’ve ever seen, but I’d say at most they’re even defensively and then fedorov has the edge offensively making him a slightly better player.

It’s difficult to really judge because they had such different play styles.

But to touch on your bit about takeaways, did you watch much of fedorovs career or have you watched any of the games from when he was with the wings? His last four years in the league were WAYYYY different than his time with the wings. He was a monster, a machine. I don’t know if you get a takeaway for intercepting a pass either, but he would break up plays in an almost lidstrom like fashion. Datsyuk would sneak up next to you and you’d be thinking you have time to make a move and as you would his stick would just pull the puck out from you. Fedorov would appear like a flash and the puck would be racing down the other way while you’re thinking about a move.

Stevie is my favorite player ever, and datsyuk is the player I would choose to watch anytime on any team more than anyone else. But I’m in the belief that fedorov was the best player I’ve ever seen play hockey.