Seeing Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault together may be a new and exciting experience for Nashville Predators fans, but it isn’t the first time the two have played on the same team or have been on the ice together.
Nashville is the second team that Stamkos has played for in his 17-year career, but it is Marchessault’s fifth. Stamkos’ one other team was the Tampa Bay Lightning in which he was captain for many years, winning two Stanley Cups and two Rocket Richard Trophies. As for Marchessault, he’s had stops with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Vegas Golden Knights before landing with the Predators.
There was a small crossover for the two in Tampa Bay though. In 2014-15, Marchessault played just 2 games for the Lightning, scoring one goal. He spent the majority of the season (68 games) in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch, scoring 24 goals and recording 67 points. He more than earned his first look in the NHL with Tampa Bay. Stamkos played a full 82 games that season, so there were two games spent together, but only 3:25 of ice time. They were on the ice for one goal for and zero against in that very limited time together.
The following season in 2015-16 is when Stamkos played a little more with Marchessault. While Stamkos was already established and in his eighth full season in the NHL, Marchessault had only played four games to that point. The two happen to be the same age as well, but development was very different between a first overall pick and an undrafted player.
Marchessault played 45 games for the Lightning while Stamkos got into 77 games. The two spent 83 minutes on the ice together on the power play, scoring 14 goals, but only 22 minutes on the ice at the same time at even strength. The analytics were all positive when Stamkos and Marchessault played together nine years ago, but were outscored 3-0 in those 22 minutes.
Marchessault was on the verge of breaking out and did so the next season with the Panthers. The way each of their careers were going, it didn’t seem very likely the two would come together on the same team again, only to end up on the same line and top power play.
If the past has any indication on how the season will play out for the two, the veterans, second line, and power play are in for lots of success.
Related: Marchessault Proving to Be Well Worth the Predators’ Investment
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