Steven Stamkos is truly lucky that he plays for Tampa Bay

[slapKing]

Everytime I watch the playoffs, I come out and feel disappointed with Stamkos. To me, he's not someone who can elevate his team on his back. Let me explain further.

2011: His first taste of playoff games. TB go on to the conference finals, but lose to Boston in 7 games. This was Stamkos' first playoff run, so it's fair to be not too harsh on him. But he wasn't the reason TB got that far, it was due to St. Louis, Vinny, and Roloson.

2014: TB loses to 4 straight against Montreal. Nothing to go off of much here. He was the leading scorer for Tampa, but it's 4 games, doesn't tell much. However, it's understandable coming off of his first major injury, so he gets some slack.

2015: The lightning go the the Finals, but that was mainly due to the triplet's line, Hedman, and Bishop. Absolute non factor in the Finals (1 assist).

2016: The lightning go all the way to game 7 against Pittsburgh, but losing in 7. Stamkos, once again had a major injury, and comes back for game 7 against Pittsburgh, but is a non factor. Hedman, Kucherov, Bishop, Drouin, and Johnson were huge this run.

2018: TB go to the conference finals. Stamkos wasn't too bad this run, but he didn't show up during the last few games against Washington (no pts in the last 3 games). In fairness, same can be said for Kucherov, Hedman, and Point who were all held scoreless for game 5, 6, and 7.

2019: Absolute failure for Tampa. This is a failure for everyone when getting sweep.

2020: Pretty much win a cup without him after sustaining another injury. Hedman, Kucherov, Point, and Vasy lead the way.

2021: Current run. Hedman, Kucherov, Point, and Vasy are once again leading the way. Also, Killorn has been great as well.

Stamkos has never really been someone to put his team on his back. 2016 and 2020 did just fine with Stamkos. He wasn't the major factor with Tampa getting far in 2011, 2015, and so far 2021. The only playoffs where I felt he did good for the most part was in 2018, and even that ended in a sournote.

Stamkos at this point is a luxury for Tampa, not a need. they already proved they can win without him. Even when he is in the lineup, he's not the reason why Tampa goes far. He's truly lucky that some of his teammates are playoff monsters.

I'll admit that if Tampa wins this year, I would be annoyed with Stamkos as a 2 time cup champion. Doesn't sit right with me. Hedman, Kucherov, Point, Vasy etc. are great. They would truly earn that right being called 2 time cup champions. For Stamkos, he doesn't earn that monikor.

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[JT Kreider]

I know specifically in the 2015 he commanded so much attention from our top shutdown unit it opened things for the triplet line to feast on our secondary depth (which was much worse than in 2014 with no Zuccarello and no Richards and no Boyle and no Dorsett, but Tanner Glass and James Sheppard instead)

 

[jcs0218]

Everytime I watch the playoffs, I come out and feel disappointed with Stamkos. To me, he's not someone who can elevate his team on his back. Let me explain further.

2011: His first taste of playoff games. TB go on to the conference finals, but lose to Boston in 7 games. This was Stamkos' first playoff run, so it's fair to be not too harsh on him. But he wasn't the reason TB got that far, it was due to St. Louis, Vinny, and Roloson.

2014: TB loses to 4 straight against Montreal. Nothing to go off of much here. He was the leading scorer for Tampa, but it's 4 games, doesn't tell much. However, it's understandable coming off of his first major injury, so he gets some slack.

2015: The lightning go the the Finals, but that was mainly due to the triplet's line, Hedman, and Bishop. Absolute non factor in the Finals (1 assist).

2016: The lightning go all the way to game 7 against Pittsburgh, but losing in 7. Stamkos, once again had a major injury, and comes back for game 7 against Pittsburgh, but is a non factor. Hedman, Kucherov, Bishop, Drouin, and Johnson were huge this run.

2018: TB go to the conference finals. Stamkos wasn't too bad this run, but he didn't show up during the last few games against Washington (no pts in the last 3 games). In fairness, same can be said for Kucherov, Hedman, and Point who were all held scoreless for game 5, 6, and 7.

2019: Absolute failure for Tampa. This is a failure for everyone when getting sweep.

2020: Pretty much win a cup without him after sustaining another injury. Hedman, Kucherov, Point, and Vasy lead the way.

2021: Current run. Hedman, Kucherov, Point, and Vasy are once again leading the way. Also, Killorn has been great as well.

Stamkos has never really been someone to put his team on his back. 2016 and 2020 did just fine with Stamkos. He wasn't the major factor with Tampa getting far in 2011, 2015, and so far 2021. The only playoffs where I felt he did good for the most part was in 2018, and even that ended in a sournote.

Stamkos at this point is a luxury for Tampa, not a need. they already proved they can win without him. Even when he is in the lineup, he's not the reason why Tampa goes far. He's truly lucky that some of his teammates are playoff monsters.

I'll admit that if Tampa wins this year, I would be annoyed with Stamkos as a 2 time cup champion. Doesn't sit right with me. Hedman, Kucherov, Point, Vasy etc. are great. They would truly earn that right being called 2 time cup champions. For Stamkos, he doesn't earn that monikor.

I appreciate the research and writing of this post.

But it has been a known fact for a long time that Stamkos isn't a playoff performer.

I knew all the way back in 2015 that he wasn't someone who elevated his game and performed in the playoffs.

 

[johnnybbadd]

Anyone that watches Tampa closely would know that Stamkos is at best their 5th best player and I would say that McDonagh is also a more important piece in their lineup so he’s #6 at best when it comes to importance to their success.

 

[belair]

The guy's probably just tired. Probably needs an 82 game vacation.

 

[slapKing]

I appreciate the research and writing of this post.

But it has been a known fact for a long time that Stamkos isn't a playoff performer.

I knew all the way back in 2015 that he wasn't someone who elevated his game and performed in the playoffs.

fair enough. It's just weird, despite his playoff bumps, dude for the most part gets no criticism.

 

[Deam78]

Your last paragraph is ridiculous. I would understand your point if he was unfairly considered the MVP, but it's not like he's winning back-to-back Conn Smythe on those cup run, he's simply a member of the team contributing in his way.

Winning a cup is so hard, anyone who does twice are definitely rightful winners, be it through performance, sacrifices, role, etc. Every year there's players that simply contributed more to the win then others, doesn't make the smaller contributors non-Cup winners

 

[dahrougem2]

I mean this isn't really a secret. Just look at his career playoff numbers and compare to his star teammates:

Stamkos has a career 1.03 PPG in the regular season, that goes down to 0.8 in the playoffs. Meanwhile:

Kucherov has a 1.06 PPG in the regular season, that goes to 1.13 in the playoffs.
Point has a 0.88 PPG in the regular season, that goes to 1.12 in the playoffs.

 

[theimmortal1]

He is now a set shooter. A great one at that.

But he needs to be fed. He gets the line mates on the PP. 5 on 5 he’d do very well if he played with Kuch.

Either way he’s not a cornerstone any more. And in the playoffs with less PPs he’s less of a factor

 

[Rschmitz]

Injuries have robbed him of any chance of being a playoff performer. Main difference is his speed, he can’t skate like he did when he first entered the league.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Well he's probably their 5th best player, and 3rd best forward, and he's 3rd in points on the team these playoffs, so it seems to me he's doing alright.

 

[ChanceVegas]

I think all the other guys on Tampa Bay are lucky they get to play with Stamkos. Dude is a great talent for sure.

 

[SaintsThomas]

I mean, payoff hockey is a lot, lot tighter. Maybe it's just that needs more space to be his elite self, and otherwise he's only "a very very good player"

 

[JoVel]

He's just not a playoff performer.

 

[Number 57]

Like the first reply said, other teams still need to watch him closely and play good defensive minutes against him. This means that Kucherov (if not on the same line as Stammer), Point and the Triplet line (when that was a thing) can get favourable matchups and score more.

Whether you like it or not Stamkos is a great player, someone who can score a lot of goals. If you don't watch him closely, he will make you pay, even if he doesn't shine as bright in the playoffs.

Tampa's depth as well as high-end talent (Hedman, Kuch, Point, Vasilevski) is the reason they've done so well over the past 6-7 years as a whole

 

[theimmortal1]

fair enough. It's just weird, despite his playoff bumps, dude for the most part gets no criticism.

He has gotten it in Tampa.

That being said I think his injuries were more of a factor previously. Now he’s just gotten older, more limited, and requires more space.

Compare him to Point. Point gets a lot of blue collar goals in front of the net. Stammer just wants to rip it. Points game, even though he doesn’t look the part, fits the blue collar nature of the playoffs very well.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

I think all the other guys on Tampa Bay are lucky they get to play with Stamkos. Dude is a great talent for sure.

Yeah, he's been a big figure in the locker room for a long time and you need leaders like that to show young players the ropes. He's had an unfortunate string of injuries that had held his career back, but I think anyone in the Lightning locker room would tell you how important he's been in getting us to where we are today.

At this point in his career he's a luxury to have. The eye test tells you he's an $8.5 million powerplay specialist. He still scores at a good clip in the regular season, but struggles when space gets taken away in the playoffs. He just doesn't have the speed/lower body strength to thrive in this environment, but the skill is still there.

 

[FinnLightning26]

Stammer isn't what he once was and he never was highly regarded as a playoff performer but he's the leader of the team with Hedman. He's been good on the PP and I suspect he isn't 100% with him missing the last month of the regular season. I'm just glad he's able to play this time around after having to sit out all but three minutes of the bubble playoffs. That must've been really tough on him just watching from the stands.

 

[Bomber0104]

How is he "lucky" when he got their first?

The program was literally built around him..

 

[Kent Nilsson]

I mean Tampa was a bad team for most of his peak and now with his broken body its unlikely his individual resume elevates considering he’s surrounded with future HOFers.

 

[Mr Rogers]

I think he's been just fine in the playoffs this year. He came up pretty big i thought in game 4 against the canes when the game was teetering a bit for the Lightning.

 

[jonlin]

Stamkos is probably injured and need a full season on LTIR to be activated game 1 in next playoffs. Just what the cap ordered...

 

[BoltzManConstant]

"Steven Stamkos is truly lucky that he plays for Tampa Bay"

I mean yes, that's accurate, but so everyone on that team is lucky that they play on that team.

Vasy's lucky to be on a team that can score its way to a win if he falters, the D is lucky to have Vasy behind it, all the forwards are lucky to have Kuch either feeding them or drawing the opponents' top defensemen. That's just the nature of playing on a thoroughly talented team, everyone's lucky to be there vs. say Edmonton.

Perhaps the one guy on the whole team it doesn't hold for is Kucherov, he's talented enough to lift whoever he's playing with. It's why the triplets line looked dominant and why Point (while very very good) looks like a league top-10 F when Kuch is playing. But still, he's certainly lucky to not be playing for, say, Edmonton.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Pretty much the truth. I love the guy and he had some amazing regular seasons but he was never the guy carrying a line 5v5, he’s the lethal trigger man. That’s why he was so successful with MSL and later Kucherov.

With all the injuries his skating and mobility took another hit and it’s almost save to say he’s a combination of will and duck tape at this point. If it wasn’t the playoffs I think he’d be out injured still/again.

Right now he's still great on faceoffs and on the PP for (the threat of) his shot. Two very stationary roles. Sad but true.

 

[GJB]

I've watched almost all Tampa games this playoffs and last, always come away disappointed by Stamkos. He doesn't seem to create much at all on his own, doesn't look dangerous except occasionally on the PP. Still a good player but not great and at best he is Tampa's 5th best player. And in these playoffs I would probably place him after Killorn as well.


With Tampa already winning last year without him, if he didn't have a NMC, you'd think they would explore moving him for cap reasons.