Today was a family travel day, but I will be back tomorrow morning with a new blog...in the meantime, enjoy the latest "Who's Better?" blog from Dan Wallace. Cheers, Ek
The debate between these two first overall selections, Stamkos in 2008 and Tavares in 2009, was almost a debate the Tampa Bay Lightning had to make themselves back in 2008. The NHL cutoff birthday for players eligible for the following June’s draft is September 15th. Tavares was born 5 days too late to be eligible for the2008 NHL draft, but his agent asked the NHL and the NHLPA to make an exception for John to enter the 2008 draft. The attempt was unsuccessful and Tavares returned to the OHL for the 2008-09 season, thus clearing the path for the Lightning to select Steven Stamkos with the 2008 1st overall pick.
Steven Stamkos and John Tavares are superstars and the center pieces of their respective teams no one can argue that. They are the leaders of their teams and they both do things differently but both continue to dazzle seemingly on a nightly basis. They have the flare and talent to bring you out of your seat with amazement. So who is better?
Stamkos is a pure sniper with speed to burn. Tavares is as slick a playmaker as there is in the game with amazing hands that make him a threat to score from anywhere on the ice. They go about their work very differently but in the end the results speak for themselves. Neither player has scored fewer than 23 goals in a season and Stamkos has scored at a pace of just better than 50 goals per season over the last 6 seasons (actual goals scored projected out over full 82 game seasons) Last season they both suffered serious injuries that halted what would have been another 50+ goal season for Stamkos and most like a 90+ point season for Tavares.
Steven Stamkos is ahead of John Tavares in the goals and points per game categories as well as playoff appearances. Stamkos netted 60 goals in the 2011-12 season he followed that up with 29 in the lockout shortened season of 2012-13. Stamkos was well on his way to what may have been another 60 goal campaign in 2013-14, opening the season with 14 goals in Tampa’s first 17 games before breaking his leg in a scary incident in Boston. Stamkos missed 45 games but did make it back for the final month of the season and was in the lineup for the lightning as they were swept in 4 games by the Montreal Canadiens. He worked very hard to make it back but it was clear that he was not quite 100 percent. This season he has hit the 40 goal mark and again is one of the league’s hottest goal scoring threats currently ranking 2nd in the league behind Alex Ovechkin. John Tavares has the upper hand when in the playmaking department as he averages just over 42 assists per season to Stamkos’s 37 assist per season average. Tavares’s Islander teams were definitely not as offensively gifted as the teams that Stamkos has played with in Tampa, but Tavares has still been able to score at nearly a point per game pace throughout his career. The mark of a great player is the ability to make those around him better and Tavares has clearly an example of this. When Tavares is on the ice anything is possible. He is quite dangerous in the smallest of areas as he has the ability to seemingly make something from nothing in an instant. Both Steven Stamkos and John Tavares are super stars in today’s NHL. They are 2 players that you circle the calendar when their teams are in town as don’t miss games. They are clearly worth the price of admission as individuals and now they have both ignited their teams to the top of the standings in their respective divisions. This battle may just play itself out in a playoff matchup this spring.
So who is better? I do believe had Stamkos not broken his leg so violently last season that he would have eclipsed the 60 goal mark last season and possibly would be closer to 50 or better this season. Tavares also returning from a serious injury (torn MCL and meniscus) has had his ups and downs as well this season but has really turned it up the second half of the season and is flirting with the NHL scoring title. It is clear that if either Stamkos or Tavares is on your team the team is in good hands with elite talent combined with tremendous leadership ability, but I have to make a decision who is better, so here goes. If I was starting a team today I would select John Tavares. The scale to me is tipped by the fact that Tavares is prone to scoring the big goals albeit not nearly the goal scorer that Stamkos is but a very good goal scorer combined with the fact that his assist numbers continue to rise as the surrounding cast starts to mature along with him.
Who’s Next?
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