Best player in franchise history-Tampa Bay Lightning

[bobholly39]

How can anyone say MSL was better than Kucherov? Mind-boggling.

Look at games played and # of quality seasons.

I agree Kucherov is better than MSL at his best - but this is best player in franchise history. Takes longevity/accomplishments and all of that into account.

I initially voted Kucherov too - but it's super close between him, MSL, Hedman & Stamkos.

 

[JoVel]

When MSL left the team, imagine someone telling you that in just 8 years time there'd be a poll like this and Stamkos wouldn't even crack the top 3.

I also wonder if there is some recency bias vs nostalgia playing a factor here, if Kucherov edges Hedman I'd be interested in how a poll of just him and MSL would be. I imagine Kucherov and Hedman are stealing votes off of each other here.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

How can anyone say MSL was better than Kucherov? Mind-boggling.

They each have 1 Hart
They each have 1 Pearson
St Louis has 2 Ross trophies vs 1 for Kucherov

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Voted Hedman, but this is so tough. Could easily see Vasilevskiy or Kucherov (if he can stay healthy) at the top when it's all said and done.

Stamkos will get underrated in this, but deserves to be part of the discussion. All-time leading goals and points scorer, the best captain in franchise history, and the face of the franchise for over a decade.

 

[OKR]

St. Louis

 

[Stamkos4life]

How can anyone say MSL was better than Kucherov? Mind-boggling.

I loved st.louis but this is definitely kucherov.

 

[Xspyrit]

Not sure why Ben Bishop and Dan Boyle are options... Bishop only played 227 games with Tampa.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I went with Hedman. I think he goes down in history as the best player of this group, largely because he's likely to still be dominant in 5 years when the others have fallen off.

 

[DFC]

It's between Kucherov, Hedman, and Vasilevskiy, IMO.

Leaning toward Kucherov because he has done a few semi-historic things. I think he surpassed MSL a year or two ago. The insane 2019 season, and then back-to-back 30 point playoff runs (nearly 3 in a row).

 

[DFC]

Look at games played and # of quality seasons.

I agree Kucherov is better than MSL at his best - but this is best player in franchise history. Takes longevity/accomplishments and all of that into account.

I initially voted Kucherov too - but it's super close between him, MSL, Hedman & Stamkos.

I think Kucherov overtakes him with playoff performances though. Even without the longevity, Kucherov could retire today and be a playoff legend.

Not saying MSL was not also great in the playoffs. But regardless of age, Kucherov is actually the one with more playoff miles by a significant margin, and he might be the best playoff performer of the era.

 

[jetsforever]

I'll give it to MSL but Stamkos is tempting.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

How can anyone say MSL was better than Kucherov? Mind-boggling.

People tend to be fonder of players they grew up with over guys they watched as adults, I guess.

 

[innitfam]

MSL.

Two Rosses, MVP, Stanley Cup.

Stamkos/Kuch/Heddy not far behind.

 

[LightningStorm]

If they play most of the rest of their careers with the Lightning, it will be between Hedman and Kucherov. Going forward, Heddy will age better being a d-man. but Kuch is a little younger. Through 2022 I'd take Kuch for this reason:

It's between Kucherov, Hedman, and Vasilevskiy, IMO.

Leaning toward Kucherov because he has done a few semi-historic things. I think he surpassed MSL a year or two ago. The insane 2019 season, and then back-to-back 30 point playoff runs (nearly 3 in a row).

2019 he has the highest scoring season post 95/96 (when scoring declined considerably afterwards), then followed that up by becoming the first player not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux to score 30 points in consecutive postseasons. Came close again with 27 this year. Ironic that he never won the Conn Smythe, though it did take some otherworldly performances from Heddy and Vasi to overtake him (Point was also ahead of him in 2020). But all in all, this is the highest peak of any player in Bolts history. As Stamkos said when he passed MSL for the franchise points record, he doesn't expect to hold it long.

 

[LightningStorm]

When MSL left the team, imagine someone telling you that in just 8 years time there'd be a poll like this and Stamkos wouldn't even crack the top 3.

Puts in perspective how amazing this 2015-present was, and having this perspective made it easier to stomach our recent finals loss, despite being bummed about falling 2 wins short of becoming the first team in 40 years to 3 peat.

If we were told that in 2014, obviously MSL would be one of the top 3. Hedman would be an easy one to predict, but I wonder who people's guess would've been for the 3rd. Kucherov wasn't highly touted at the time. Bishop probably would've been the most likely guess, as his goaltending was a huge reason for our 2014 RS ascent, and his absence was really felt in the playoffs. Ironic that amazing tenure quickly got surpassed by Vasilevskiy.

 

[kp61c]

They each have 1 Hart
They each have 1 Pearson
St Louis has 2 Ross trophies vs 1 for Kucherov

Kuch has 2 cups and 154 playoff points , St Louis has 68, as tampa's player. It's not that close.

 

[Nihiliste]

I give it to the primary engine that took them within 2 games of a cap era 3peat. It has to be Vasi

 

[Nihiliste]

If they play most of the rest of their careers with the Lightning, it will be between Hedman and Kucherov. Going forward, Heddy will age better being a d-man. but Kuch is a little younger. Through 2022 I'd take Kuch for this reason:

2019 he has the highest scoring season post 95/96 (when scoring declined considerably afterwards), then followed that up by becoming the first player not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux to score 30 points in consecutive postseasons. Came close again with 27 this year. Ironic that he never won the Conn Smythe, though it did take some otherworldly performances from Heddy and Vasi to overtake him (Point was also ahead of him in 2020). But all in all, this is the highest peak of any player in Bolts history. As Stamkos said when he passed MSL for the franchise points record, he doesn't expect to hold it long.

If you tell Kuch that the MVP of the last 3 years was someone other than Vasi, he’ll tell you that its number 1 bullshit

 

[DFC]

Kuch has 2 cups and 154 playoff points , St Louis has 68, as tampa's player. It's not that close.

Yeah, despite not having a Conn Smyth to his name, Kucherov is arguably the best playoff scorer of his generation. And if you took the mean average of our last three playoff runs, Kucherov would come out as our best player, even over both Vasy and Hedman.

To me, that's what puts him over MSL. I believe both Hedman and Vasy have also passed MSL, which is a very high bar to clear, don't get me wrong. But Hedman was the best defenseman in the game for a few years, is still a top 3 defenseman (maybe even the best still), and Vasy's numbers speak for themselves. I think it's closer between Kucherov and those two than MSL, with all due respect to MSL. It might be unfair because Kucherov played on more consistently better teams, but his playoff numbers are hard to argue with.

 

[Scorcho]

vasy