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Top 5 Lightning of All Time

The Tampa Bay Lighting have been in the NHL since 1992, and have been an extremely successful franchise. Three Stanley Cups to go with three Eastern Conference Championships, and they’ve won their division four times. 

Tampa has been helped by a list of superstars that have spent considerable time with the team. Bolstering its success on and off the ice in a non-traditional hockey market. So today we’re gonna look at the best of the best of those superstars that have spent time with the Bolts. To be clear before I start ranking them, anyone could lay this list out slightly differently, all five of these players are extremely talented.

  1. Victor Hedman – Defense (2009-Present)

 

Victor Hedman is far and away the best defenseman in franchise history. As of writing this the 6’6 241 pound Swede has played in 868 games, all for the Lightning. Tallying 125 goals and 444 assists for an astonishing 569 points. As long as I can remember Hedman has been an elite defenseman any NHL team would be lucky to have. In recent years he has consistently been in the Norris conversation. He was a fundamental piece of the back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020-21, and was rewarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2020. Depending on how Hedman ages I could very easily see him moving up the list.

 

  1. Andrei Vasilevskiy – Goaltender (2014-Present)

 

It’s hard to find a goalie that makes watching the game fun by himself, but Andrei Vasilevskiy does that perfectly. He uses cat-like reflexes and a calm demeanor to put on a show every single night. If Vasy is in the net, he’s giving the Lightning a chance to win with every start. Over his career, all spent with the Lightning, he’s gone 219-91-23. Posting a 2.48 GAA and a .920 save percentage. It’s hard to deny he’s been one of the best goalies, if not the best since 2017. He truly came into the spotlight in the 2016 Eastern Conference Final, coming in to relieve the injured Ben Bishop, and has been a superstar since. In his young career he’s already grabbed two Cups, a Vezina trophy and a Conn Smythe, and with the way he’s going we’re likely to see plenty more accolades.  

 

  1. Vincent Lecavalier – Center (1998-2013)

 

1,000 games played in the National Hockey League is an incredible achievement. Only one player in the history of the Lightning suited up for a thousand games with the club, and that player was Vincent Lecavalier. Going 1st overall in 1998 and staying with the team until they bought his contract out in June of 2013. During his tenure he scored 383 goals and 491 assists for 874 points in 1,037 games in Tampa. He was first captain of the team in 2000-01 for a season and took back the captaincy in 2008. Holding the “C” until his departure after 2013. For a very long time Vincent was a huge part of the identity of the Lightning, helping them to their first Stanley Cup in 2004.

 

  1. Steven Stamkos – Center (2008-Present)

 

Whenever Stamkos retires any fan who followed his career is going to ask one question, “What could’ve been?”. Tampa Bay is lucky to have seen Stamkos folly blossom into an NHL superstar. Injuries came dangerously close to taking a generational talent. But those injuries may make his career accomplishments that much more impressive. 1st Overall pick in 2008, immediately followed by 74 goals in his first two seasons. Two Rocket Richard trophies, once in 2010 and his second coming in 2012 after a 60 goal season.

 

The next few seasons were robbed from us by injuries, but Stamkos persisted. He may not be 100% of the player he used to be. But he’s one of the best captains in the league for his leadership abilities. Taking the role over in 2014. He’s captained the Lighting through their back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. So far he’s tallied 465 goals and 461 assists for 926 points as of writing this. If injuries didn’t play as large of a factor as they did, he’d easily grab number one on this list. 

 

  1. Martin St. Louis – Right Wing (2000-2014)

 

Lecavalier may have been the captain for most of his tenure, and have played more games with the team. Steven Stamkos may have more goals, but Martin St. Louis was the face of the Lightning his entire tenure. As of writing this St. Louis is still the all-time leading scorer for the Bolts. Stamkos may not be far behind but most of St. Louis’ career was played in a much lower scoring era. When I think of the Lighting, St. Louis is still the first player that comes to mind, even eight years after his trade to the Rangers.

He was only able to grab one Stanley Cup in his career, 2004 with the Lightning. But his personal accolades with Tampa tell the story. 365 goals, 588 assists, for 953 points in 972 games played. 1 Hart trophy, 1 Art Ross trophy, 3 Lady Byngs and 1 Ted Lindsay award. Martin St. Louis’ number 26 was also the first number retired in franchise history. He will forever and always be a face of the Lightning.  

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