Player Discussion: Tampa Bay Lightning All Time Player Ranking #7

[JoVel]

Right, the boring ones are out of the way, you can now proceed to grab each other's throats.

1. Nikita Kucherov 87,9 %
2. Martin St. Louis 46,2 %
3. Victor Hedman 59,4 %
4. Steven Stamkos 50,0 %
5. Andrei Vasilevskiy 78,9 %
6. Vincent Lecavalier 95,5 %

 

[JoVel]

I went with Point. I almost gave it to Richards because he did win the Conn Smythe, but Point's 2020 run was probably better anyway. And that Smythe voting between him and Hedman was insanely close. To the point where, had Point gotten even a secondary assist on the 2-0 goal in game 7, he might've just won it.

Having said that, I think it should've been Hedman by a bigger gap than it was, but point still stands.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Went with Point too. Four 40+ goal seasons, one 50+ goal season, three 90+ point seasons, insane playoff performances both offensively and defensively. Not recently but he was a monster and especially during our Cup runs.

 

[Stammertime91]

Point, Richards, then there's a divide...

 

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

I'm actually gonna go with Bishop here. I can seldom remember a time we lacked a true 1C but I do remember almost a decade of the curse of Khabibulin and Bishop being the chosen one to break it

 

[JoVel]

I'm actually gonna go with Bishop here. I can seldom remember a time we lacked a true 1C but I do remember almost a decade of the curse of Khabibulin and Bishop being the chosen one to break it

As much as I like Bishop, his 100% injury rate in the playoffs will unfortunately knock him down at least a few spots for me.

 

[Sky04]

Point here, then McD for me, you have to give both credit for their roles in the 2 cups.

 

[Stammertime91]

Point here, then McD for me, you have to give both credit for their roles in the 2 cups.

McD over Richards is interesting given Richie has a CS. Though, I think after that its a pool of Pally, McD and Khabi? Idk.

 

[Sky04]

McD over Richards is interesting given Richie has a CS. Though, I think after that its a pool of Pally, McD and Khabi? Idk.

It's still 1 cup vs 2 and McD was the shutdown defenseman on 3 consecutive finals appearances, after next season McD will have spent as many seasons here as Richards and has already played over twice as many playoff games.

 

[Stammertime91]

It's still 1 cup vs 2 and McD was the shutdown defenseman on 3 consecutive finals appearances, after next season McD will have spent as many seasons here as Richards and has already played over twice as many playoff games.

Fair points. The CS does it for me in the end. No problem with either being interchangeable though. Both fall out of the Mount Rushmore but still in the very good/important category of our cup runs.

 

[RussianBum86]

Bulin wall

 

[DFC]

I think it's Point here. Sad that Bishop will likely fall to a lower point than he deserves, but Point has to get credit for team accomplishments because he was a huge part of them.

 

[Rschmitz]

Bishop vs Khabibulin is actually an interesting discussion. Bishop has the superior stats but Khabibulin played behind some atrocious Bolt teams and should have won the CS. Depends on what you value.

 

[Sky04]

Bishop vs Khabibulin is actually an interesting discussion. Bishop has the superior stats but Khabibulin played behind some atrocious Bolt teams and should have won the CS. Depends on what you value.

Khabby played behind a team that finished 1st in the East, Tampa and Khabby fell apart the second that team got dismantled and the franchise didn't get any traction until Bishop arrived. Bishop's 2014 season, with an injured Stamkos, MSL who left via trade and a team full of rookies carried us into the playoffs.

 

[Hoek]

Khabi also lost his starting role for a chunk of his cup season. Loved his game and I still have his poster up, but it was a pretty brief turn in the spotlight in the end. Give Bishop the edge for his longer time here and the uniqueness of his abilities.

 

[Rschmitz]

Khabby played behind a team that finished 1st in the East, Tampa and Khabby fell apart the second that team got dismantled and the franchise didn't get any traction until Bishop arrived. Bishop's 2014 season, with an injured Stamkos, MSL who left via trade and a team full of rookies carried us into the playoffs.

I didn't say the Bolts teams were always bad, but when he first got here he absolutely buoyed a failing franchise. The fact we fell apart after he left should be evidence of how much he meant to the team right?

Khabi also lost his starting role for a chunk of his cup season. Loved his game and I still have his poster up, but it was a pretty brief turn in the spotlight in the end. Give Bishop the edge for his longer time here and the uniqueness of his abilities.

Wasn't Khabi injured? Just wasn't given the job back immediately when he was healthy because Grahame was playing so well(if I remember correctly), still played in 55 games. Grahame finished .913 and Khabibulin .910 SV%

Khabibulin played in 192 games and Bishop played in 227 games, both goalies had brief stints here.

 

[Hoek]

I didn't say the Bolts teams were always bad, but when he first got here he absolutely buoyed a failing franchise. The fact we fell apart should be evidence of how much he meant to the team right?


Wasn't Khabi injured? Just wasn't given the job back immediately when he was healthy because Grahame was playing so well(if I remember correctly), still played in 55 games. Khabibulin played in 192 games and Bishop played in 227 games, both goalies had brief stints here.

He wasn't injured. He was playing like crap. Look at his game log that season. He was eating losses from November through January alternating with Grahame before taking back the reins fully. He ended with only 55 starts because of it, down from 70 and 65 the years before. Ended up being a good thing though.

 

[Rschmitz]

He wasn't injured. He was playing like crap. Look at his game log that season. He was eating losses from November through January alternating with Grahame before taking back the reins fully. He ended with only 55 starts because of it, down from 70 and 65 the years before. Ended up being a good thing though.

I believe the injury was undisclosed, 20+ year gap between news but I think that was the rumor. I know he played like utter crap though, big reason why Feaster let him walk in free agency thinking Grahame was the answer.