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Sakic vs Esposito

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
EspositoWinner
88.1

Esposito wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics

Sakic
87.0

Sakic wins: Longevity

Candidates
Locked to Ice Hockey

Shareable URL · /compare/joe-sakic-vs-phil-esposito

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇦 Phil Esposito
88.1

Esposito leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. First player to 100 points in a season, then 152 three years later.

1. Phil Esposito
88.1
2. Joe Sakic
87.0

Category breakdown

Season form · Points per season

Career timeline · Points per season

Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.

GOAT pace tracker

Career stage · GOAT pace

Through season 5 · Points per season
1. 🇨🇦 Joe Sakic5 seasons played · career day 1,826472 points
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇨🇦 Phil Esposito5 seasons played · career day 2,191349 points
-26.1% vs Sakic at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇨🇦 Sakic0062164367820
🇨🇦 Esposito00023223733

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricSakicRetiredEspositoRetired
Stanley Cups22
Hart Trophies12
Conn Smythe Trophies1
NHL points1,6411,590
Olympic golds2
NHL goals625717
Art Ross Trophies5
Summit Series points13
Dominance w25%8486
Peak w20%8892
Longevity w20%9086
Honours w20%8686
Statistics w15%8892

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Esposito88.1
Sakic87.0
The people
Sakic
Esposito

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