Zetterberg vs Kovalchuk vs Stamkos

[amnesiac]

Who's the best in all sense of the word.... Career, prime, peak.

As if you're ranking on an all time list.


(power outage at work, sick of chatting with colleagues)

Click to read more...

 

[wetcoast]

Zetterberg although there is an arguement for Stamkos having the better career.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

As of now (Stamkos could add cups still)
Career: Zetterberg
Peak: Stamkos

 

[The Macho King]

Kovalchuk is behind Stamkos in every metric so he's out.

It's two-way play versus scoring. I lean Stamkos.

 

[ESH]

I feel like Stamkos would be ahead of Zetterberg by now if it wasn’t for playoffs. Zetterberg was a workhorse in the playoffs while Stamkos has been largely disappointing.

If Stamkos keeps putting up points though, he’ll come out ahead.

 

[AvroArrow]

Prime Stamkos was the only play to ever rival prime Ovechkin in goal scoring (although it looks like OV might be in his prime at 36). Zetterberg was a 2 way beast and I won't argue with anyone taking him, but I take Stamkos. His offensive peak was just insane. 60 goals is ridiculous, the guy just couldn't stay healthy.

 

[Legionnaire]

Kovy.

 

[jetsforever]

Stammer

 

[kp61c]

1. Zetterberg AINEC
2. Stamkos AINEC
3. Kovalchuk.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Prime Stamkos was the only play to ever rival prime Ovechkin in goal scoring (although it looks like OV might be in his prime at 36). Zetterberg was a 2 way beast and I won't argue with anyone taking him, but I take Stamkos. His offensive peak was just insane. 60 goals is ridiculous, the guy just couldn't stay healthy.

60 goals and he still couldn't crack 100 points.

Zetterberg isn't putting up as many goals but he could put up the points and he is better than the other two guys defensively.

 

[The Macho King]

60 goals and he still couldn't crack 100 points.

Zetterberg isn't putting up as many goals but he could put up the points and he is better than the other two guys defensively.

I mean... he had one season of 90 points, and two seasons of 80 points.

Except for his rookie year, Stamkos only had one full season sub 80 points (72 and was still a 40 goal scorer that year).

The offensive difference is significant here. Maybe you want to say the defensive difference makes up for it, and fine - but don't oversell Zetts offense.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

I mean... he had one season of 90 points, and two seasons of 80 points.

Except for his rookie year, Stamkos only had one full season sub 80 points (72 and was still a 40 goal scorer that year).

The offensive difference is significant here. Maybe you want to say the defensive difference makes up for it, and fine - but don't oversell Zetts offense.

I don't think I'm overselling anything. Zetterberg was playing some of the best defensive hockey in the NHL and putting up PPG or better. He has six PPG+ seasons.

Kovalchuk had seven. Stamkos is on eight (seven if you don't count that 20 game season where he was injured).

 

[HugeInTheShire]

I'd go Zetterburg, Stammer then Kovy
If Kovy hadn't bailed he might have a chance here, but he's clearly 3rd

 

[The Macho King]

I don't think I'm overselling anything. Zetterberg was playing some of the best defensive hockey in the NHL and putting up PPG or better. He has six PPG+ seasons.

Kovalchuk had seven. Stamkos is on eight (seven if you don't count that 20 game season where he was injured).

The problem with counting "PPG+ seasons" is there's a wide gulf of what a PPG is. Gretzky's 215 was just a "PPG+ season". Zetterberg peaked at around a PPG player - never really rose much above it. And that's fine. But it's significantly lower than the offensive output of Stamkos and (although less so) Kovalchuk.

For instance, Stamkos' PPG is 1.04, while Zetts is .88. And this is despite playing a similar-ish number of games (Zetts has about 140 more, but we're dealing with large enough numbers here that it shouldn't change much, especially considering how many games Stamkos lost to injury).

 

[AvroArrow]

60 goals and he still couldn't crack 100 points.

Zetterberg isn't putting up as many goals but he could put up the points and he is better than the other two guys defensively.

Four seasons of 90+ points, highest was 98 points

Three more seasons on pace for 90+ points that he either got injured or shortened season due to covid.

Zetterberg has only hit 90 points once, and one other season where he was on pace too. Let's not act like there wasn't a huge offensive gap. I too like Zetterbergs all around game but he was definitely not putting up similar points to Stamkos.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

The problem with counting "PPG+ seasons" is there's a wide gulf of what a PPG is. Gretzky's 215 was just a "PPG+ season". Zetterberg peaked at around a PPG player - never really rose much above it. And that's fine. But it's significantly lower than the offensive output of Stamkos and (although less so) Kovalchuk.

For instance, Stamkos' PPG is 1.04, while Zetts is .88. And this is despite playing a similar-ish number of games (Zetts has about 140 more, but we're dealing with large enough numbers here that it shouldn't change much, especially considering how many games Stamkos lost to injury).

PPG+ is exactly what it says it is. Kovalchuk's most productive season has him at 1.27 (same with Stamkos) while Z's is 1.23.

215 is more than double PPG.

 

[Boreal01]

Zetterberg
Stamkos
Kovalchuk

That being said, Stamkos' peak > Zetterberg's peak

 

[amnesiac]

I'd go Zetterburg, Stammer then Kovy
If Kovy hadn't bailed he might have a chance here, but he's clearly 3rd

If he was a wing or a bolt he'd probably be leading imo

 

[The Macho King]

If he was a wing or a bolt he'd probably be leading imo

Yeah - poor guy for playing on a line with Marc Savard and Marian Hossa. Poor guy never had a chance.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

If he was a wing or a bolt he'd probably be leading imo

If he was a Leaf he'd be 100 votes ahead

 

[Midnight Judges]

Stamkos IMO. He had by far the highest peak, and also the best PPG and GPG across his career.

 

[Regal]

I don’t know if it’s a hot take or not, but ‘08 Zetterberg was a better player than 60 goal Stamkos. Career is tough because they all have their caveats. Zetterberg’s peak was short and while a good player after he wasn’t quite among the elite after he lost his goal scoring. Stamkos has the best resume due to production, but I’m not sure it’s reflective of his actual on-ice value. Kovalchuk was probably the most talented, but left the league early and suffered through bad teams. Stamkos will go down as the best player in an all time sense, but I think I’d prefer Zetterberg on my team if I was building on from scratch, unless I already had some core play drivers and needed a goal scorer. I just can’t see Stamkos being the best player on a cup winner. If I was picking one from their draft, I might go Kovalchuk though. With better coaching early he might have really been great.

 

[amnesiac]

Yeah - poor guy for playing on a line with Marc Savard and Marian Hossa. Poor guy never had a chance.

Yeah that Thrashers team were contenders for years.

 

[amnesiac]

If he was a Leaf he'd be 100 votes ahead

That too

 

[The Macho King]

Yeah that Thrashers team were contenders for years.

The quality of lines 2-4 probably don't have a ton of impact on the top line's production. If anything it helps it because you get more icetime.

When Stamkos scored 60 Tampa missed the playoffs. Same with his other Rocket - happened in a year where they finished bottom 10. Playing on a good team doesn't make your offensive production suddenly increase.