Thirty-five goals seems like it would be a lot and is a level he’s reached just twice in the last seven seasons. This is actually a pretty tough question. His cap hit for the season is $8.5 million and an actual salary of $6.5 million ($5.5 million signing bonus and $1 million salary).ĭo we expect them to score more or less next season? The Captain enters the final season of the 8-year, $68 million contract that he signed back in June of 2016. Stamkos is here to put the puck in the net, and while he might not be the best, he’s among the best. Yes, the defense isn’t great, but it’s not like he was drafted, signed, and re-signed to win Selke Trophies. Stamkos is at the stage of his career where he’s not going to be mentioned in the same breath as the top players in the league, but he is still extremely effective at scoring goals.Īs you can see, he still ranks in the 90th percentile for offense in the league. The 84 points was third on the team while only Brayden Point scored more goals than he did. Stamkos wasn’t the best player on the team last year, but he was still among the best. Stamkos averaged almost 30 seconds more at 5v5 and 20 seconds more on the power play than he had in the previous season (his penalty kill time was down, though). Stamkos’ solid play and Coach Cooper’s need to rely on the top two lines for offense contributed to that increase. The 19:01 ice time was his highest average since 2015-16 and 30 seconds more than he averaged in 2021-22. Not only was he healthy, he was on the ice a lot. It was, however, the second season in a row that he appeared in 81 games which was good to see for a player that has had more than his fair share of injuries throughout his career. The goal-scoring droughts cost him a shot at back-to-back 40 goal seasons, something he hasn’t done since the three-season stretch in 2009-2012 when he went 51, 45, 60. The 84 points is the seventh best offensive season of his career and the eleventh time he’s averaged more than a point a game for an entire season. He still ended up with a respectable 34-goal, 50-assist season as a 32-year-old. Insanely hot stretches followed by cold streaks where they can’t buy a goal. That is the life of a goal-scorer, though. It wasn’t all rosy, though as The Captain also mixed in a couple of slumps, including a 10-game goalless stretch following that hot start to the season, and a 2-goals-in-14 games stretch in late December that carried into the new year. There was also a 14-game point streak during November and December. It was the most productive stretch of the season, though he added a 6-goal-in-4-games stretch in late January. Stamkos came out on fire as he opened up the season with a 5-game goal streak where he scored 7 times. He also added a trophy, the Mark Messier Leadership Award, becoming the first Lightning player to win the award in its 11-year history. Not a bad collection of game pucks to add the mantle for the future hall of famer. Steven Stamkos was the Milestone Man in 2022-23 as he hit three big career markers: 1000 games played, 500 goals, and 1000 points. While the footwork was impressive, it was the stickwork in tight, where avoided Larsson’s attempt to lift his stick was the best part of the play. Martin Jones did all he could to make the first stop, but Stammer is able to poke the rebound up and over him for the goal. He took the pass on his forehand and skated backwards through the crease and twisted to get the shot off. The one-touch pass found Stamkos alone in front of the net, but he wasn’t in prime one-timer position. He found Victor Hedman for the all-important cross-ice pass and Hedman knew what he was going to do with the puck before it hit his stick. Anthony Cirelli was first to the loose puck and maintained possession after a stick check. It started with not one, but two Seattle turnovers – first in the neutral zone, and then Adam Larsson’s pass that ate Vince Dunn alive in the defensive zone. Heck, goal 501 was prettier than number 500.Īs for the goal we choose, it was goal number 497, (only 48 people have scored that many in the NHL) and it was, in our humble opinion, Stamkos’ best goal of the year. Alex Killorn did all the work and Stammer just had to stand there and knock it in. You could also say it was the easiest goal of the year for him. Stamkos? Sure, you could make that argument. Shouldn’t a milestone goal like that, something only 47 humans have every accomplished be the goal of the year for Mr. Steven Stamkos skates backward and sticks with the puck before burying his own rebound, making it a 6-1 game in the 3rd
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