Players reflect on Fedorov's Hall of Fame career

Sergei Fedorov, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, was known as arguably the most dynamic player in the NHL in the 1990s. The forward's world-class skills helped the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup three times (1997, 1998, 2002).

Fedorov retired from the NHL in 2009 as the all-time leading scorer among Russian players with 483 goals and 696 assists for 1,179 points in 1,248 games. He scored 400 goals and had 554 assists for 954 points in 908 games with the Red Wings. He had 176 points in 183 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Here's what people around the game have to say about Fedorov:

Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2015 inductee Nicklas Lidstrom (Red Wings defenseman, 1991-2012): "Being able to maneuver and stickhandle when he was going full speed is what really sticks out. He was such a dynamic player being able to do that. He could fly and stickhandle and he could shoot the puck too. He was hard to defend because he could beat you 1-on-1 or he could make a long, nice pass. He was a real dynamic player."

Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman (Red Wings captain, 1985-2006): "He's an incredible athlete. His skating ability, his puck handling, his shooting, strength and his power … he had everything. And he was a tremendous off the ice with fitness testing, playing tennis, playing golf. Just an incredible athlete."

Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray (Red Wings coach, 1990-93): "Sergei was explosive, exciting. He wanted the puck. He attacked with the puck regularly. There was a little bit of an adjustment for him coming to the NHL in that you can't do it all by yourself. Off the ice he liked to go out with the boys, but he was a good listener. But like a lot of Russian players, he had an opinion and didn't mind expressing it. I liked Sergei because he was really respectful. When you talked to him about doing certain things, the first thing he did was try, and if it didn't work, then we'd have a discussion. Really just an exciting, explosive player."

Dallas Stars president Jim Lites (Red Wings executive, 1982-93): "Jimmy Devellano was the general manager. Neil Smith was the chief scout. Ken Holland was the western scout. They knew exactly what they were getting. We knew exactly the quality of the player we were getting. The management team in Detroit at the time was pretty darn strong."

Stars GM Jim Nill (Red Wings assistant GM, 1994-2013): "To be that good, you've gotta have that competitiveness in you to want to be the best, and he could notch it up. He was one of those guys that in a tie game, he could be the difference-maker. Those guys are hard to find. He could turn the warp speed up one more notch, and when he did that you couldn't stop him."

Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (teammate 2007-09): "Unbelievable. Unbelievable guy. Such a nice guy, such a nice person, and such a pro all the way. I don't think I've met a nicer person, just looking out for everyone, talking to everyone. He's just down to earth, a nice guy. I learned how to act by watching him. I looked at him a lot and saw how he was handling things. Especially when a couple games maybe don't go that well, he was always good to talk to. He would be positive and say, 'You'll get over it.' He taught me a lot."

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (teammate 2007-09): "He was the best player I've ever played with. He was unbelievable. You put him in every position and he was going to be the best. His hockey sense was unbelievable. His shot and vision, unbelievable. Our power play, as soon as he came, I think nobody could catch us because nobody knew who was going to take the shot."

New York Islanders captain John Tavares: "Loved watching him make plays at top speed. The way he could skate was effortless. He and Mike Modano were two guys I loved to watch because it wasn't a strength of mine, so I loved to watch the way they could skate and make plays at top speed like that. Not only that, he was a guy that was an all-around player and contributed at both ends of the ice, which was pretty impressive. You could just tell, he was born to skate. He was an effortless skater. He just made it look easy."