Top 5 players in NHL history to switch positions during their career

Sergei Federov is a former NHL player who switched positions in his career.

Sergei Fedorov was one of the most offensively productive players throughout the 1990s. He was as dominant as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were and added hardware as well. Drafted as a  forward, he made the transition to defense during the second half of his career.

For his career, he had 483 goals and 696 assists for 1,179 points in 1,248 games and was a +261. He was spectacular in the playoffs as well, scoring 52 goals and 124 assists for 176 points in 183 games.

He spent 13 years in the Red Wings organization, three with the Columbus Blue Jackets, two in Anaheim with the Ducks, and two with the Washington Capitals.

He was the complete package as he had speed and versatility, could play forward or defense, and excel at both, was one of the hardest shots in the league, and was a threat on special teams.

He would often be a quarterback on the power play as his passing skills were just as effective as his shot location. As one of the first players to defect to the NHL from the Soviet Union, he made the most of his chances and made the opposition pay at every chance he got.

A true game breaker, Fedorov played in six all-star games, twice won the Selke Trophy (1993-94 and 1995-96), and won both the Ted Lindsay award and the Hart trophy during the 1993-94 season. He also won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002).

Fedorov was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 9, 2015, and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2016. Outside of the NHL, Fedorov is still in the game of hockey.

He was a general manager of CSKA Moscow from the 2012-13 season until the 2016-17 season. Fedorov was named the head coach of CSKA on July 14, 2021, and brought the team back from a 3-1 deficit in a seven-game series to win in seven games at the Gagarin Cup.