Steven Stamkos vs Martin St Louis.

[Felidae]

Well, 2 of the greatest Tampa bay players in franchise history (for now)

But who was better? Consider everything from peak to prime,


Steven Stamkos.

Yearly stat placements

Goals: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 7, 9
GPG: 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 6, 7
Points: 2, 2, 5, 5, 6, 9
PPG: 3, 3, 6, 7

Yearly award placements

Hart: 2, 6, 8, 11, 11, 11, 14



Martin St Louis

Goals: 4, 5
GPG: 4, 8
Points: 1, 1, 2, 5, 6
PPG: 2, 3, 3, 7, 9

Hart: 1, 3, 9, 14, 17
Selke: 4, 18, 19, 39

Click to read more...

 

[LightningStorm]

Similar peaks, but Stammer wins due to longevity. Kuch likely passes both though.

 

[bobholly39]

MSL - but not by a huge gap.

Similar peaks, but Stammer wins due to longevity. Kuch likely passes both though.

Kucherov has already passed both of them - and the gap is pretty huge. Kucherov is more in line with a Forsberg/Malkin, maybe even better.

 

[Felidae]

I think Stammer has passed MSL at this point, at least in the RS.

The goalscoring gap is far larger than the point production gap (which is honestly pretty small)

Also the fact that both of MSL's Art Ross trophies are equivalent to Stamkos's 2011-12 season. His first Art Ross is pretty weak. Stamkos point gap over the 20th scorer in 2011-12 is actually slightly higher than MSL's point gap over the 20th scorer in 2002-03.

And 2012-13 there were tons of players (including Stamkos) just within reach of the scoring title, and ofc Crosby missing games in what was probably one of his best seasons in a per game basis.

It's a close but clear edge for Stamkos in the RS. The only thing MSL has over Stamkos at this point is postseason performance. MSL wasn't some out of this world playoff performer, but he certainly looks like it compared to Stamkos.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

MSL based solely on style-points.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Similar peaks, but Stammer wins due to longevity. Kuch likely passes both though.

Kucherov has easily passed both.

 

[DitchMarner]

I think Stammer has passed MSL at this point, at least in the RS.

The goalscoring gap is far larger than the point production gap (which is honestly pretty small)

Also the fact that both of MSL's Art Ross trophies are equivalent to Stamkos's 2011-12 season. His first Art Ross is pretty weak. Stamkos point gap over the 20th scorer in 2011-12 is actually slightly higher than MSL's point gap over the 20th scorer in 2002-03.

And 2012-13 there were tons of players (including Stamkos) just within reach of the scoring title, and ofc Crosby missing games in what was probably one of his best seasons in a per game basis.

It's a close but clear edge for Stamkos in the RS. The only thing MSL has over Stamkos at this point is postseason performance. MSL wasn't some out of this world playoff performer, but he certainly looks like it compared to Stamkos.

I agree with you that on paper, Stamkos appears to have the better career at this point.

I won't check the poll results until after completing this post, but I suspect St. Louis is leading.

The last number of years, it's rather bizarre how much Stamkos' scoring has been dismissed/ignored. It's like people decided he was done being relevant after his knee injury and now anything he does is solely because of the team around him/Kucherov and/or being a PP specialist. He's had some good, meaningful scoring finishes the last number of years. In 2022 he actually scored a lot at Even Strength as well.

He'll never be a Selke contender, but he has rounded out his game somewhat and seems to be a solid enough leader (though who really knows what goes on in locker rooms other than people who are present).

It feels like St. Louis will always be favored/preferred over him. I guess people like the feel good story of a small, feisty player who became a big scorer and iconic player. St. Louis was a better defensive player (at least at his defensive peak), but he was primarily a scorer himself. As you said, he was better in the playoffs.

However, it seems like there is kind of a double-standard with Stamkos where people say things like, "he's only about the fifth-best player on his team in the playoffs!" - as if he should be playing like he did in 2012 while also holding it against him that his team didn't do that well and he was a big scorer on a bad team back then.

 

[LightningStorm]

MSL - but not by a huge gap.



Kucherov has already passed both of them - and the gap is pretty huge. Kucherov is more in line with a Forsberg/Malkin, maybe even better.

Kucherov has easily passed both.

In the end I agree, especially after this past season. Even without seeing his longevity his peak is already easily ahead of these 2 to have him #1 in Bolts history.

 

[AvroArrow]

Prime Stamkos rivaled the greatest goal scorer of all time (Alex Ovechkin)

MSL was better later into his career

Really good poll, it's honestly 50/50, I went Stamkos because if we compare primes he's a top 5 goal scorer of all time, his injuries are the only thing that set him back.

 

[Sky04]

Stamkos got to lean onto some heavily stacked teams the last 5-6 years and put up points even when playing bad, MSL's teams were leaning on him for everything, he was carrying the workload on bottom feeders. From 2003 till when he left MSL was pretty much on the top line against other teams best defenders every game, Stamkos in recent years has had the luxury of being behind other players.

MSL was Tampa's best player almost every single playoff run, he won them their first series ever, scored in OT in game 6, Stamkos really doesn't have any moments like that - the 1 goal he scored against Dallas I guess?

 

[JackSlater]

Would have been Stamkos most likely if not for the broken leg but I have to go with St. Louis. St. Louis drove play more than Stamkos did and I don't like Stamkos' fairly regular disappearing, or at least underwhelming, acts in the playoffs. Also think that Stamkos has been quite fortunate over the last several years to play on Tampa Bay when it comes to putting up some of the totals he has.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

good poll , I went stamkos because of Goalscoring? seems like a decent tiebreaker and he was basically second best in the world for a while

 

[heretik27]

People talking up Stamkos conveniently forgetting to mention he had his best goal scoring season pre-injury with MSL as a linemate really irks me. There's no reason you can't give both players their due. As good as Stamkos was at hammering pucks, MSL was great at getting them to him in open ice.

 

[Felidae]

People talking up Stamkos conveniently forgetting to mention he had his best goal scoring season pre-injury with MSL as a linemate really irks me. There's no reason you can't give both players their due. As good as Stamkos was at hammering pucks, MSL was great at getting them to him in open ice.

While it's true MSL was there during most of Stammer's best years, It's worth noting that Stamkos's best goalscoring season he also outproduced MSL by 23 points. Not to mention the 45 goal gap. Outside of that, they were actually very close in production during the years they played.

 

[BKarchitect]

MSL for me but no wrong answer.

 

[dirtydanglez]

stamkos just due to his longevity. close tho.

 

[Voight]

People talking up Stamkos conveniently forgetting to mention he had his best goal scoring season pre-injury with MSL as a linemate really irks me. There's no reason you can't give both players their due. As good as Stamkos was at hammering pucks, MSL was great at getting them to him in open ice.

It goes both ways. MSLs production dipped in 2008 and 2009, not a coincidence he started hitting 90 points again when he was paired with Stamkos.

 

[CanadienShark]

MSL as a player. Stamkos has the greater resume. If that makes any sense.