Best since Gretz: The NHL players ranked 16-20 in the last 25 years
A quarter century has passed since Wayne Gretzky retired as the NHL's all-time scoring leader and undisputed top talent. To mark the milestone, theScore set out to rank and discuss the 25 best players of the post-Gretzky era.
Stats and accolades compiled before the 1999-00 season weren't considered for this exercise. For example, Nicklas Lidstrom was evaluated as a 10-time (not a 12-time) All-Star.
Catch up with Monday's introductory essay and players 21-25 here.
Era teams: Tampa Bay Lightning 2014-present
Signature performance: The 2021-22 Panthers, winners of the Presidents' Trophy, got the full Vasilevskiy experience in Game 4 of the second round.
Vasilevskiy turned aside all 49 shots in a 2-0 Tampa Bay win. Florida, the highest-scoring team in the regular season, attempted 82 shots that night, 38 of which were labelled a scoring chance by Natural Stat Trick.
In the victory, Vasilevskiy set two NHL records: most saves in a regulation shutout during the playoffs, and most career series-clinching shutouts (six). He allowed three goals on 154 shots for a .981 save percentage in the sweep.
Why he's here: Vasilevskiy is the Patrick Roy of his generation - a 6-foot-4 boogieman who haunts shooters in their sleep come playoff time.
Three years running, Vasilevskiy has been the top answer in an NHLPA poll that's asked hundreds of its members, "If you need to win one game, who is the goalie you want on your team?" He's led by a wide margin, too, claiming 37% of the total votes in 2021-22, 52% in 2022-23, and 47% in 2023-24.
Vasilevskiy has two Stanley Cup championships with two other Cup Final appearances on his resume as he enters the 10th year of his career, which he's spent exclusively in Tampa Bay. The native of Tyumen, Russia, won a Conn Smythe Trophy and a Vezina Trophy and finished either second or third in Vezina voting three times.
And he secured all of these accomplishments before turning 30 this past offseason.
It's as if the 2012 first-round pick nicknamed "Big Cat" was created in a goalie lab. He's long and tall, freakishly athletic, super smart, technically sound, and ultra-competitive. Most crucially, he's terrifically clutch. From the start of the 2020 postseason through Game 1 of the 2022 conference finals, Vasilevskiy posted cartoonish numbers following losses: a 17-0 record, 1.42 goals-against average, and .947 SV%. - John Matisz
Era teams: New York Islanders 1999-2001, 2021-22; Ottawa Senators 2001-06; Boston Bruins 2006-20; Washington Capitals 2020-21
Signature performance: When the Bruins and Maple Leafs clashed in the first round in 2013, Chara assisted all four Boston goals in a Game 4 overtime win. He contributed to a memorable three-goal comeback in Game 7 by teeing up a rebound for Milan Lucic to bury, then screening Toronto goalie James Reimer on the late equalizer.
Chara recorded eight points in the series while averaging 28:54 of ice time - the most on the Bruins by almost seven minutes. They dispatched the Rangers and Penguins before narrowly losing to the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final.
Why he's here: Chara intimidated foes and, in 2011, captained the Bruins to their first championship since Bobby Orr's heyday. A Norris Trophy win and seven All-Star nods substantiated the 6-foot-9 blue-liner's enormous impact.
Chara played more games (1,680, plus 200 in the playoffs) than any NHL defenseman. He led our 25-year era in minutes (38,092) and ranked in the top 10 at his position in goals (207), points (671), even-strength points (411), and hits (2,455). He rattled bones by the boards, was a willing fighter, and blasted the hardest slap shot (108.8 mph) in All-Star Skills Competition history.
Chara was blessed with endless reach, control of his towering frame, and the endurance to play deep into his 40s. A warrior, he blocked a shot with his jaw but didn't miss a game in the 2019 Cup Final, his third appearance in the series. His defense partner at that juncture, Charlie McAvoy, was born during Chara's rookie season.
His career fascinated fans from the outset. Chara was a depth defenseman when the Islanders, eager to acquire Alexei Yashin, shipped him to the Senators with the high draft pick used on Jason Spezza. The trade was a heist for Ottawa, where Chara became the fearsome Norris candidate who manhandled big Bryan McCabe in an infamous scrap. He walked in free agency when the cash-strapped Sens prioritized retaining Wade Redden.
The Bruins pounced and benefited immensely. They surrendered the NHL's fewest goals (2.52 per game) over Chara's 14 seasons as captain. In the 2011 playoffs, they outscored teams 26-12 during his five-on-five shifts. Coursing with joy, Chara staggered like a giant in a fairytale when he lifted the Cup at the height of his hockey journey. - Nick Faris
Era teams: New York Rangers 2005-20
Signature performance: On May 13 in 2013, 2014, and 2015, Lundqvist backstopped the Rangers to Game 7 wins over the Capitals, Penguins, and Capitals again. He stopped 35 shots in each triumph to punctuate New York's comeback in all three series.
The eerie symmetry added to the lore of Hank, a Game 7 superhero. He played in eight and won six, equaling the NHL record, with a .961 save percentage and 1.11 goals against average.
Why he's here: This chic Swedish goalie electrified the largest American hockey market. He was an instant hit in the Big Apple and remained dominant for the better part of 15 NHL seasons.
Lundqvist paired glittering career stats (.918 save percentage, 64 shutouts in 887 games) with a Vezina win and Hart nomination in 2012, when he maintained a .930 SV% over 62 starts. He owns a colossal lead in cumulative goals saved above expected (277.9 since 2008) in the Evolving-Hockey database. The top GSAx season, and three of the top six, belong to King Henrik.
Partnering with Rangers goalie whisperer Benoit Allaire helped the 6-foot-1 Lundqvist craft a distinct style. His high hockey IQ and stellar lateral movement allowed him to play deep in the crease, where he stoned snipers. He fell short of a championship but reached three conference finals and a Cup Final in a four-year window (2012-15) during which he slowed Alex Ovechkin's own Cup pursuit, beating the rival Capitals in three Game 7s.
Lundqvist's arrival from Sweden after the 2005 lockout reinvigorated a famed team that kept missing the playoffs with a bloated payroll. In his rookie season, the Rangers amassed 100 points for the first time since their 1994 Cup breakthrough. He extended a lineage of Hall of Fame netminding, surpassing the likes of Gump Worsley, Ed Giacomin, and Mike Richter to become the franchise wins, saves, and shutouts leader by big margins.
Lundqvist, the No. 205 pick in 2000, wasn't even the first goalie the Rangers drafted that year. Fifth-rounder Brandon Snee peaked in the ECHL, while Lundqvist's No. 30 hangs in the Madison Square Garden rafters. - Faris
Era teams: Lightning 2008-24
Signature performance: Stamkos curls in the neutral zone, streams down the wing, corrals a pass, beats a defender wide, then whips the puck top corner.
That approximate sequence of events has unfolded many times over Stamkos' 1,000-plus games. When it happened in Game 3 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, however, it became the stuff of legend - a Hollywood moment.
Stamkos skated for just 2:47 in five shifts against the Stars that night, recording a single shot - the goal. It turned out to be his first and only appearance during the Lightning's 22-game Cup run. He battled back from a core muscle injury for one chance at contributing, and somehow pulled it off.
Why he's here: Stamkos is one of the preeminent marksmen in NHL history. He's an elite sniper, full stop. Alex Ovechkin aside, nobody in the post-Gretzky era's been armed with a deadlier power-play one-timer than "Stammer."
Stamkos' 555 goals rank fourth since 1999-00, while his 1,137 points sit eighth, thanks to his underrated playmaking abilities. He's been a point-per-game guy in 12 of his 16 regular seasons, and produced at a high level in the playoffs, despite periodically dealing with a serious injury or health issue.
The longtime Lightning captain, who's set to play his first season away from Tampa Bay after signing a four-year deal with the Predators in July, already has two Cup rings and two Rocket Richard trophies. He's scored 60 goals once, 50 goals once, and 40 goals five times. Even though, at 34, he's no longer in his prime, Stamkos' shot routinely reaches speeds of 90-100 mph.
Stamkos, the 2008 draft's top pick, is also a Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award winner who's universally respected across the league. - Matisz
Era teams: Lightning 2013-present
Signature performance: Kucherov has dazzled in high-leverage situations for years, but it's a shootout attempt that best underlines his wondrous skill.
In an otherwise forgettable regular season game in March 2017, Kucherov embarrassed goalie Robin Lehner by scoring in the shootout even though he didn't technically shoot the puck. He faked a shot before letting the puck slide through Robin Lehner's five-hole. Kucherov unleashed the same "no-shot" maneuver on Braden Holtby a year later and, again, fooled an NHL goalie.
Why he's here: To watch Kucherov is to watch a hockey savant, a magician on skates, a maestro with a stick. Pick your favorite description for a guy who's deserving of a spot on the short list for smartest players of all time.
Kucherov, a left-handed right-winger, seems to know what his opponents will do with the puck before they gain possession. He deploys quick-twitch hands to rifle tape-to-tape passes and seeing-eye shots. He's a master of trick plays, wall play, and the power play, making an impact on the final score in ways discreet and direct. And he does it all with a powerful dose of self-belief.
Kucherov has recorded 100 points four times and is the author of two of the six most productive seasons in the salary-cap era. In 2018-19, he exploded for 41 goals and 87 assists for 128 points, earning the Hart and Art Ross trophies. Last season, he one-upped himself with 44 goals and 100 assists for 144 points, another Art Ross, and runner-up honors in a stacked Hart field.
The 31-year-old doesn't have a Conn Smythe to his name. Make no mistake, though, he was the offensive engine of those Lightning squads who, over a four-year stretch, captured the Presidents' Trophy; won the Cup; won the Cup again; and lost in a third Final in a row. In 74 playoff games, he had 95 points. - Matisz
Follow the rollout all week long. Wednesday: Nos. 11-15.
John Matisz and Nick Faris cover the NHL for theScore.