I agree there's some inherent value in focusing on a player's best consecutive seasons because a steady, consistent prime probably gives their team a better chance to win.
This chart compares players' best seven seasons, to best seven consecutive seasons using VsX. You'll see that this is brutally unforgiving to players who are injured during their prime.
Rank|Player|Consec|Best|Difference
1 | Wayne Gretzky | 152.7 | 155.6 | -2.9
2 | Phil Esposito | 130.4 | 130.4 | 0
3 | Gordie Howe | 122 | 125.5 | -3.5
4 | Bobby Orr | 114.8 | 114.8 | 0
5 | Jaromir Jagr | 110 | 114.2 | -4.1
6 | Stan Mikita | 107.4 | 107.8 | -0.5
7 | Guy Lafleur | 104.5 | 104.5 | 0
8 | Mario Lemieux | 103.7 | 119.8 | -16.1
9 | Jean Beliveau | 102.4 | 105.7 | -3.3
10 | Howie Morenz | 102.2 | 102.2 | 0
11 | Ted Lindsay | 101 | 104.4 | -3.4
12 | Bobby Hull | 100.4 | 108.3 | -7.9
13 | Marcel Dionne | 99.3 | 103.3 | -4.1
14 | Andy Bathgate | 99.1 | 101.1 | -1.9
15 | Maurice Richard | 95.4 | 102.4 | -7
16 | Bill Cook | 94.9 | 96 | -1.1
17 | Charlie Conacher | 93.6 | 96.2 | -2.6
18 | Mike Bossy | 93.3 | 94.8 | -1.4
19 | Joe Thornton | 92.8 | 95.6 | -2.8
20 | Alex Ovechkin | 92.5 | 98.4 | -5.9
21 | Steve Yzerman | 92.3 | 93.2 | -0.9
22 | Bill Cowley | 92.3 | 97 | -4.8
23 | Bryan Trottier | 91.9 | 93.7 | -1.8
24 | Bobby Clarke | 90.4 | 90.4 | 0
25 | Sweeney Schriner | 90.4 | 91.3 | -0.9
26 | Max Bentley | 90.4 | 90.4 | 0
27 | Frank Boucher | 90.3 | 95.1 | -4.8
28 | Joe Sakic | 89.2 | 97.7 | -8.5
29 | Teemu Selanne | 88.4 | 92.7 | -4.4
30 | Jari Kurri | 88.1 | 88.1 | 0
31 | Marty Barry | 88.1 | 89.6 | -1.4
32 | Sidney Crosby | 88 | 101.8 | -13.8
33 | Nels Stewart | 87.9 | 90.3 | -2.4
34 | Norm Ullman | 87.7 | 89.5 | -1.7
35 | Peter Stastny | 87.1 | 88.4 | -1.3
36 | Busher Jackson | 87 | 89.5 | -2.4
37 | Martin St. Louis | 86.9 | 92.4 | -5.5
38 | Gordie Drillon | 86.7 | 86.7 | 0
39 | Doug Bentley | 86.6 | 86.6 | 0
40 | Adam Oates | 86.6 | 90 | -3.4
41 | Syl Apps Sr | 86.5 | 92.4 | -5.8
42 | John Bucyk | 85.8 | 88.7 | -2.8
43 | Denis Savard | 85.5 | 85.5 | 0
44 | Jean Ratelle | 85.3 | 89.6 | -4.3
45 | Darryl Sittler | 84.6 | 85.7 | -1.1
46 | Patrick Kane | 84.5 | 84.5 | 0
47 | Dickie Moore | 83.6 | 85.4 | -1.8
48 | Brett Hull | 83.6 | 88 | -4.4
49 | Bernie Geoffrion | 83.6 | 89.9 | -6.3
50 | Peter Forsberg | 83.5 | 90.3 | -6.8
51 | Dale Hawerchuk | 83.4 | 86 | -2.6
52 | Steven Stamkos | 83 | 83 | 0
53 | Markus Naslund | 82.9 | 82.9 | 0
54 | Henrik Sedin | 82.5 | 84.5 | -2
55 | Eric Lindros | 82.4 | 85 | -2.6
56 | Toe Blake | 82.4 | 86.3 | -4
57 | Daniel Alfredsson | 82.3 | 82.3 | 0
58 | Ken Hodge | 82.1 | 83.2 | -1.1
59 | Jarome Iginla | 82 | 86.7 | -4.7
60 | Luc Robitaille | 81 | 84.2 | -3.2
61 | Ilya Kovalchuk | 80.9 | 83.9 | -3
62 | Paul Coffey | 80.9 | 88.1 | -7.2
63 | Ron Francis | 80.8 | 87.4 | -6.6
64 | Gilbert Perreault | 80.7 | 85.7 | -5
65 | Syd Howe | 80.6 | 83.9 | -3.3
66 | Evgeni Malkin | 80.5 | 89.2 | -8.7
67 | Paul Thompson | 80.5 | 82.6 | -2.1
68 | Frank Mahovlich | 80.4 | 87.8 | -7.4
69 | Mark Recchi | 80.2 | 88.4 | -8.2
70 | Mark Messier | 80.1 | 89.6 | -9.5
71 | Henri Richard | 80.1 | 85.2 | -5.1
72 | Bryan Hextall | 80.1 | 80.9 | -0.8
73 | Alex Delvecchio | 80 | 84.8 | -4.8
74 | Marian Hossa | 79.9 | 82.4 | -2.4
75 | Claude Giroux | 79.9 | 79.9 | 0
76 | Mats Sundin | 79.7 | 82.1 | -2.4
77 | Mike Modano | 79.7 | 81.5 | -1.8
78 | Milt Schmidt | 79.5 | 86.9 | -7.4
79 | Michel Goulet | 79.3 | 79.3 | 0
80 | Aurel Joliat | 79.2 | 82.6 | -3.5
81 | Bernie Nicholls | 78.7 | 80.6 | -1.9
82 | Nicklas Backstrom | 78.5 | 83.2 | -4.8
83 | Pierre Turgeon | 78.5 | 82.1 | -3.7
84 | Ryan Getzlaf | 78.4 | 82.1 | -3.7
85 | Rod Gilbert | 78.2 | 83.1 | -4.9
86 | Cecil Dillon | 78.1 | 78.1 | 0
87 | Lynn Patrick | 78.1 | 79.4 | -1.3
88 | John LeClair | 77.8 | 81.7 | -3.9
89 | Cooney Weiland | 77.5 | 78.9 | -1.4
90 | Theoren Fleury | 77.4 | 82 | -4.5
91 | Daniel Sedin | 77.2 | 79.9 | -2.8
92 | Elmer Lach | 77.2 | 86.1 | -8.9
93 | Pavel Datsyuk | 77.2 | 82.5 | -5.4
94 | Yvan Cournoyer | 77.1 | 77.1 | 0
95 | Anze Kopitar | 76.9 | 76.9 | 0
96 | John Tavares | 76.8 | 76.8 | 0
97 | Phil Watson | 76.7 | 76.7 | 0
98 | Ted Kennedy | 76.6 | 78.8 | -2.2
99 | Ziggy Palffy | 76.4 | 80.1 | -3.7
100 | Paul Kariya | 76.3 | 84.9 | -8.7
101 | Pat LaFontaine | 76.3 | 78.5 | -2.3
102 | Sid Abel | 76.2 | 87.3 | -11.1
103 | Bernie Federko | 76.1 | 77.6 | -1.4
104 | Bobby Rousseau | 75.5 | 75.5 | 0
105 | Hooley Smith | 75.5 | 78 | -2.4
106 | Vincent Lecavalier | 75.5 | 76.9 | -1.5
107 | Dany Heatley | 75.2 | 81 | -5.8
108 | Doug Gilmour | 75.1 | 82 | -6.9
109 | Joe Primeau | 74.8 | 74.8 | 0
110 | Bobby Bauer | 74.6 | 74.6 | 0
111 | Eric Staal | 74.5 | 78.8 | -4.3
112 | Corey Perry | 74.5 | 75 | -0.5
113 | Phil Kessel | 74.3 | 74.9 | -0.6
114 | Bun Cook | 74.3 | 76.3 | -2.1
115 | Sergei Fedorov | 74.3 | 80.8 | -6.5
116 | Bert Olmstead | 74.3 | 75.9 | -1.7
117 | Jacques Lemaire | 74.2 | 77.9 | -3.7
118 | Henrik Zetterberg | 73.3 | 78 | -4.7
119 | Herbie Lewis | 73.3 | 75 | -1.7
120 | Alexei Yashin | 73.2 | 77.1 | -3.9
121 | Rick Middleton | 73.2 | 74.1 | -1
122 | Pavol Demitra | 73 | 74.5 | -1.5
123 | Don McKenney | 73 | 73.3 | -0.3
124 | Jason Spezza | 73 | 79.1 | -6.1
125 | Roy Conacher | 72.9 | 85.2 | -12.3
126 | Pete Mahovlich | 72.9 | 73.8 | -0.9
127 | Jamie Benn | 72.7 | 72.7 | 0
128 | Brendan Shanahan | 72.6 | 79 | -6.4
129 | Keith Tkachuk | 72.6 | 79 | -6.5
130 | Milan Hejduk | 72 | 73.1 | -1.1
131 | Glenn Anderson | 72 | 72 | 0
132 | Rick Martin | 71.9 | 73.1 | -1.2
133 | Alexander Mogilny | 71.9 | 77.7 | -5.8
134 | Eddie Wiseman | 71.8 | 71.8 | 0
135 | Tony Amonte | 71.8 | 73 | -1.2
136 | Johnny Gottselig | 71.8 | 74.8 | -3
137 | Jonathan Toews | 71.7 | 72.3 | -0.6
138 | Dit Clapper | 71.7 | 73.7 | -2
139 | Brad Richards | 71.6 | 78 | -6.4
140 | Doug Weight | 71.6 | 78.3 | -6.8
141 | Jeremy Roenick | 71.4 | 81.2 | -9.8
142 | Larry Aurie | 71 | 71.6 | -0.5
143 | Rene Robert | 71 | 71 | 0
144 | Lanny McDonald | 70.9 | 74.1 | -3.2
145 | Lorne Carr | 70.9 | 74.4 | -3.5
146 | Woody Dumart | 70.8 | 72.7 | -1.9
147 | Patrik Elias | 70.8 | 78.9 | -8.1
148 | Red Kelly | 70.7 | 75.4 | -4.7
149 | Steve Shutt | 70.6 | 70.6 | 0
150 | Vincent Damphousse | 70.4 | 74 | -3.6
151 | Bill Mosienko | 70.2 | 75.2 | -5
152 | Alex Kovalev | 70.1 | 75.3 | -5.2
153 | Garry Unger | 70.1 | 70.1 | 0
154 | Joe Pavelski | 70.1 | 71.1 | -1
155 | Rick MacLeish | 70.1 | 73.3 | -3.2
156 | Phil Goyette | 70 | 75.2 | -5.2
157 | Denis Potvin | 69.8 | 74.9 | -5.1
158 | Alex Tanguay | 69.7 | 73.4 | -3.7
159 | Kenny Wharram | 69.4 | 69.8 | -0.4
160 | Steve Larmer | 69.1 | 71.9 | -2.8
161 | Syl Apps | 69.1 | 69.1 | 0
162 | Patrick Marleau | 68.8 | 73.2 | -4.4
163 | Dave Taylor | 68.7 | 70.2 | -1.5
164 | Bill Thoms | 68.7 | 72.7 | -4
165 | Baldy Northcott | 68.6 | 68.6 | 0
166 | Dave Keon | 68.5 | 74.3 | -5.7
167 | Joe Mullen | 68.5 | 71.6 | -3.1
168 | Miroslav Satan | 68.4 | 68.4 | 0
169 | Kent Nilsson | 68.4 | 71.3 | -3
170 | Raymond Bourque | 68.2 | 75.5 | -7.2
171 | Bill Barber | 68.2 | 70 | -1.8
172 | Gaye Stewart | 68.2 | 69.8 | -1.6
173 | Peter Bondra | 68.1 | 72 | -3.9
174 | Clint Smith | 67.8 | 75.1 | -7.3
175 | Mike Ribeiro | 67.8 | 74.1 | -6.3
176 | Fred Stanfield | 67.8 | 67.8 | -0.1
177 | Neil Colville | 67.8 | 72.1 | -4.4
178 | Paul Ronty | 67.8 | 67.8 | 0
179 | Marc Savard | 67.7 | 73.3 | -5.6
180 | Steve Sullivan | 67.6 | 67.6 | 0
181 | Pit Martin | 67.6 | 70.6 | -3
182 | Rod Brind'Amour | 67.4 | 72.6 | -5.2
183 | Dennis Maruk | 67.1 | 71.3 | -4.2
184 | Robert Lang | 67 | 67.8 | -0.8
185 | Red Berenson | 66.8 | 67.5 | -0.8
186 | Butch Goring | 66.8 | 67.8 | -1
187 | Ebbie Goodfellow | 66.7 | 69.6 | -2.8
188 | Ace Bailey | 66.6 | 66.6 | 0
189 | Pavel Bure | 66.5 | 85.2 | -18.7
190 | Brian Propp | 66.3 | 67.2 | -0.9
191 | Peter McNab | 66.1 | 66.1 | 0
192 | Al MacInnis | 65.8 | 70.5 | -4.6
193 | Ed Litzenberger | 65.7 | 67.5 | -1.7
194 | Tom Lysiak | 65.7 | 65.7 | 0
195 | Rick Nash | 65.6 | 69.2 | -3.6
196 | Scott Gomez | 65.5 | 67.6 | -2.1
197 | Billy Taylor | 65.5 | 65.5 | 0
198 | Olli Jokinen | 65.4 | 68.2 | -2.8
199 | Dennis Hull | 65.4 | 68.3 | -3
200 | Jason Allison | 65.2 | 65.9 | -0.6
201 | Brian Leetch | 65.1 | 73.7 | -8.6
202 | Blake Wheeler | 65 | 65.9 | -0.9
203 | John McKenzie | 65 | 65 | 0
204 | Thomas Vanek | 64.9 | 68.7 | -3.9
205 | Sid Smith | 64.8 | 68.2 | -3.4
206 | Dave Andreychuk | 64.7 | 69.5 | -4.8
207 | Kirk Muller | 64.7 | 64.7 | 0
208 | Craig Janney | 64.6 | 67.4 | -2.8
209 | Petr Nedved | 64.6 | 65.9 | -1.3
210 | Kevin Stevens | 64.6 | 67 | -2.4
211 | Mike Gartner | 64.6 | 68.8 | -4.2
212 | Vic Hadfield | 64.4 | 65.2 | -0.8
213 | Jakub Voracek | 64.4 | 64.4 | 0
214 | Nicklas Lidstrom | 64.3 | 69.4 | -5.1
215 | Vic Stasiuk | 64.3 | 64.3 | 0
216 | Todd Bertuzzi | 64.2 | 68.5 | -4.4
217 | Jason Pominville | 64.1 | 66 | -1.9
218 | Jean Pronovost | 64 | 65.3 | -1.2
219 | Bill Hay | 63.8 | 63.8 | 0
220 | Petr Sykora | 63.7 | 64.8 | -1.1
221 | Mats Naslund | 63.5 | 63.5 | 0
222 | Bobby Smith | 63.3 | 68.9 | -5.6
223 | Buddy O'Connor | 63.3 | 65.9 | -2.6
224 | Wilf Paiement | 63.2 | 65.3 | -2.1
225 | Ray Whitney | 63.2 | 72.9 | -9.6
226 | Tod Sloan | 63.2 | 70.9 | -7.7
227 | Bill Goldsworthy | 63.1 | 63.2 | -0.1
228 | Jim Pappin | 63.1 | 63.4 | -0.2
229 | Murray Oliver | 63 | 64.7 | -1.7
230 | Brad Park | 63 | 63.3 | -0.3
231 | Zach Parise | 63 | 70.9 | -7.9
232 | Bill Guerin | 63 | 63.9 | -0.9
233 | Dino Ciccarelli | 62.9 | 69.8 | -6.9
234 | Alexander Semin | 62.8 | 64.1 | -1.2
235 | Patrick Sharp | 62.8 | 66.2 | -3.3
236 | Shane Doan | 62.8 | 66.1 | -3.2
237 | Joe Nieuwendyk | 62.8 | 70.3 | -7.5
238 | Patrice Bergeron | 62.7 | 66.5 | -3.8
239 | Glen Murray | 62.5 | 65.5 | -3
240 | Danny Grant | 62.4 | 62.4 | 0
241 | Robert Reichel | 62.3 | 62.3 | 0
242 | Doc Romnes | 62.2 | 62.2 | 0
243 | Jimmy Ward | 62.2 | 68.5 | -6.3
244 | Wayne Cashman | 62.2 | 67.8 | -5.7
245 | Ryan Smyth | 62 | 62.1 | -0.1
246 | Johnny Peirson | 61.9 | 64.1 | -2.2
247 | Matt Duchene | 61.9 | 61.9 | 0
248 | Alex Zhamnov | 61.8 | 65.7 | -3.9
249 | Barry Pederson | 61.7 | 64.7 | -2.9
250 | Guy Chouinard | 61.7 | 61.7 | 0
Fifty of the top 250 players have the same score under both methods. That is, their best seven seasons (per VsX) happened to be consecutive. Not surprisingly this includes players like Orr and Lafleur. Another 26 players' scores changed by no more than 1.0 points (Yzerman, Mikita).
Not surprisingly, players who were most affected were often injured during their prime (Lemieux, Bure). Crosby has the 15th best VsX score through 2016, but if we only look at best consecutive seasons, he falls to 32nd - roughly on par with Kurri and Stastny.
Forsberg is another odd case. His 2003 campaign (Hart & Art Ross) gets excluded entirely. He played all of 278 games in the six seasons surrounding it, including just one with more than 60 games.
This also hurts players with late-career resurgences. For example, Recchi's 2000 season is excluded entirely. That drops him from 45th (Stastny/Kurri level) to 69th (Mahovlich/Delvecchio level).