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Esposito vs Sakic

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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/phil-esposito-vs-joe-sakic

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
🇨🇦 Esposito00023223733
🇨🇦 Sakic0062164367820

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.

MetricEspositoRetiredSakicRetired
Art Ross Trophies5
Hart Trophies21
Stanley Cups22
NHL points1,5901,641
NHL goals717625
Summit Series points13
Conn Smythe Trophies1
Olympic golds2
Dominance w25%8684
Peak w20%9288
Longevity w20%8690
Honours w20%8686
Statistics w15%9288

Fan vote — data vs the people

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

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Make your case for Esposito vs Sakic. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.

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