How good was Slava Fetisov in NHL?

[Eye of Ra]

You rarely hear about his NHL-career. How good was he with the Devils and the Wings?

Click to read more...

 

[GMR]

He was clearly past his prime but still a productive player. Nothing special. He was 31 his first season. Back then that was old, especially for someone entering the league for the first time. Even nowadays, a 31 year old entering the league for the first time would have trouble adjusting.

I'm assuming NHL fans expected more because he was a major star overseas in the 1980s and was highly regarded.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Recall seeing him play in Hartford for the Devils in his first NHL season.

There was play where he took the puck behind his own net. Forechecker followed him and another came from the other side. Looked like he was trapped. He flipped a backhand pass just in time to his defensive partner in front of the net. His partner immediately iced the puck, even though there was no one near him. Defensemen didn't make that kind of play in those days.

He was playing a different game.

 

[tabness]

Can't speak about his earlier NHL career but growing up watching him on the Wings you would always hear the reverent tones Larionov and Fetisov were spoken about in. Could definitely see why with Larionov, he showed flashes of what would have made him brilliant in the past. I was honestly confused why Fetisov got that clout lol, chalked it up to age I guess then.

Get the exact same sense going back and watching Wings games from the early part of glory years now, Larionov you see it, not really at all Fetisov.

Then again I've always been less impressed than most of Fetisov's play even during his heyday in the eighties. Feels like many of the other Soviet defensemen are underrated vis a vis their (lack of) reputation compared with Fetisov.

 

[Professor What]

He was clearly past his prime but still a productive player. Nothing special. He was 31 his first season. Back then that was old, especially for someone entering the league for the first time. Even nowadays, a 31 year old entering the league for the first time would have trouble adjusting.

I'm assuming NHL fans expected more because he was a major star overseas in the 1980s and was highly regarded.

To the bolded, it's worth noting the fact that his time before the league was in the Soviet system. I know that's something that everybody knows but the significance of it isn't small. A lot of the Soviet guys tended to break down, thanks to the rigorous training system they went through, and Fetisov managed to remain relevant until he was 39. That's pretty significant to me.

 

[JackSlater]

Not so great. I think we generally know the reasons why, but he wasn't all that much better than Kasatonov when they came over and I'd say that both Makarov and Larionov clearly transitioned better and were better in the NHL. He had decent luck in terms of transition as well with Kasatonov joining him on a somewhat ascendant New Jersey team and then he joined a deep Detroit team where they eventually formed the Russian five.

I view Fetisov's NHL career as a neutral for him historically. It doesn't hurt him given his age, lifestyle considerations etc. but it doesn't help him in my eyes the way it somewhat does with Makarov and Larionov.

 

[Albatros]

Fetisov was a great hockey player, but also one of those guys that knew how to make themselves important. The kind of guy that survives nuclear war together with the cockroaches. In the NHL he was a glorified Jyrki Lumme at best.