Whoa. Whoa. Who.
Stop the clock!
There is a Steven Stamkos sighting in south Florida.
The Tampa Bay Lightning captain and leading scorer returned to the ice and joined his team pat practice this morning.
Stamkos rocked the loud, hemoglobin red "don't-you-dare-touch-me-or-you-will-get-traded" sweater.
Stamkos skated on the fourth line.
He looked good.
Afterwards, he said that the experience of being back on the ice was "uplifting".
This is a shocking revelation because Stamkos has been sidelined since under going successful vascular surgery on April 4 to remove/repair a blood clot that had developed in his right collarbone area.
The original prognosis from the surgeon and team doctors was that Stamkos was expected to miss 1-3 months of playing time. Stamkos has been on blood thinners which make him susceptible to profuse bleeding. As you know, the game of hockey lends itself to heavy body contact and bleeding from wounds and contusions is a normal everyday occurrence for NHL players. The NHL prohibits it's players from participating in game action when under doctor's orders for blood thinners.
How much longer until Stamkos can play again? That decision is out of his hands and that of the Lightning management and coaching staff. The doctors will make that final determination.
Even if Stamkos were ruled healthy enough to resume contact and rejoin his team for round two of the playoffs against John Tavares and the Brooklyn Hipsters, he would have to play a third or fourth line role. Jon Cooper is not about to breakup his top line of Alex Killorn-Tyler Johnson-Nikita Kucherov which combined for 10 goals and 20 points against the Red Wings in round one.
Jonathon Drouin, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan are also killing it right now.
Based on the media accounts from Tuesday's practice session, Stamkos made it through the skate without an incident or complications. This is a great sign for Bolts players, coaches and fans. It's also a shot in the arm for managers of the 29 other NHL clubs who will be aggressively pursuing Stamkos when he becomes UFA on July 1.
Per usual, Stamkos was asked about his contract situation. Per usual, he deflected that puck into the corner and changed the subject.
Stamkos answered questions about his recovery process.
The Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings will treat the news of Stamkos skating again as a major positive. All three teams will be front and center at the UFA auction block when Stamkos becomes available to the highest bidder on July 1.
Sabres GM Tim Murray began his quest for Stamkos late last June just before Stamkos' no movement clause kicked in on July 1. Murray has $35 million in salary cap space for next season and he'd have no issue with chipping off $9+ million per season over 7seasons to secure Stamkos' services. Murray also has 21 premium draft picks in the 2016 and 2017 NHL drafts, with 12 of them in hand for this season.
Bolts GM Steve Yzerman would be wise to trade Stamkos' UFA negotiating rights to Buffalo before the NHL Draft, which will be hosted by Tim Murray and the Sabres.
Yzerman must save face and get as many building blocks and assets in exchange for Stamkos that he possibly can. Tim Murray has the best "murrency" to make a deal with in the NHL right now in premium draft choices, roster player (Mark Pysyk, Tyler Ennis), prospects (Nick Baptiste). Yzerman is still in search of a right shot QB who can play in his top four D group.
Join the Discussion:
»