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It's undeniable that Steven Stamkos has led the Tampa Bay Lightning to great success in the NHL over the past five years. The Lightning have been the premier club in recent seasons, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2020 and 2021, while also playing in last year's finals.
The titles in 2020 and 2021 were the third in the franchise's history, which is even more impressive given the fact that the Lightning have only been an NHL team since 1992.
NHL insider JP Peterson recently praised the current iteration of Tampa Bay, in particular, the talents of Steven Stamkos and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Here's what he said on "The JP Peterson Show:"
"I mean, this team is historic, they're probably going to end up having four or five Hall of Famers on this team that we're watching right now.
"And if they they've already won two cups, my guess is they might win one or maybe two more in the next four to five years. So we're witnessing something really really special with this lightning team."
"JP Peterson Show 01.19.23: Bucs Offseason Plan & Steven Stamkos Reaches 500 Goals" - The JP Peterson Show
The Tampa Bay roster was assembled by both Steve Yzerman (2010-2018) and Julien BriseBois (2018-present). It features some of the top players in their positions in the NHL.
Captain Stamkos, Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman, and Nikita Kucherov all have the statistics to see them inducted into the National Hockey Hall of Fame one day.
"LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN! The Tampa Bay Lightning are back-to-back #StanleyCup champions." - SportsCenter
Despite the team's core having already won two Stanley Cups, their championship window remains wide-open this season. Tampa Bay are currently third in the Atlantic Division behind the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 32-15 record.
A look at Steven Stamkos' Hall of Fame career
Since being selected by the Lightning as the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft, Steven Stamkos has spent his entire NHL career with the club. Through 15 seasons in the NHL, he has already become Tampa Bay's all-time goal scoring leader (505), as well as the all-time points leader (1029).
He currently sits 64 assists behind club leader Martin St. Louis. The Lightning captain has won two Stanley Cup titles and two Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies as the NHL's top goal scorer (2009-2010 and 2011-2012).
With 24 goals and 33 assists this season, Stamkos shows no signs of slowing down. Expect to see him leading the charge in Tampa Bay all season.
