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A few weeks back, the Tampa Bay Lightning reportedly made an eight-year offer to captain
Steven Stamkos worth about $8.5 million per season. Such a contract would come with a ‘discount’ to the Bolts, and put Stamkos considerably below the market value set with contracts for Chicago top-line center
Jonathan Toews ($10.5 million per year) and the contract most recently signed by ‘16 free agent class comparable
Anze Kopitar ($10 million per season) with the LA Kings. Stamkos, as expected, did not appear to accept the offer from the Lightning front office.
In other words, the gap between the Bolts and Stamkos sits around $2 million, you’d think.
It was just another chapter in a year that’s become all about Stamkos. His yesterday, his today, his tomorrow. It was the talk of Stamkos’ trip to Nashville for the NHL All-Star Game, too.
From
ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun:
"At that time, that's what you envisioned," Stamkos said in an interview with ESPN.com Friday. "You use them [Kane and Toews] as an example for sure, how they got something done a year out. For sure you want that. It doesn't always play out the way you want to do things in life. Obviously, I didn't envision being in this position if you would have asked me back then. But it's a process and it's something as a player that it's the first time I've ever gone through something like this.
"For me now that you're in this situation, OK, you've got to go over options," continued Stamkos. "Some of it is in your control and some of it isn't. It's a big decision for the team, it's a big decision for you as a player. You just want to make sure you're as informed as you can be. You want to go through all the possibilities. The lines of communication [with the team] have always been open and will continue to be open. We'll see how it plays out."
This a lot more than the ‘no comment’ Stamkos has often opted for when it’s come to questions regarding his future in Tampa Bay. Later in the article, Stamkos reiterates that his ultimate goal is to win with the group general manager Steve Yzerman has assembled in Tampa. But with just 27 days to go before the league’s trade deadline, it’s clear that the talk will be on Stamkos’ future in town.
Firstly, is it fair to consider this Stamkos’ final run in town?
In a way, yes. Like we’ve said again and again, the future is uncertain and could be anywhere. You know about Toronto’s interest. But then you hear about numerous others -- from Buffalo to St. Louis to Detroit and even Montreal (a truly terrifying thought) -- and how they’d “love” to throw their hat in the Stamkos sweepstakes. Stamkos would be a fool not to weigh those options out this July.
So then comes the big question: Would they legitimately consider moving No. 91 before the deadline?
In my opinion, absolutely not. After struggling to find their footing for almost three months, the Lightning are back in the driver’s seat as one of the Atlantic Division’s best. And I don’t care what the return is and where it’s coming from, you’re not getting a realistic return that gives you a greater chance at winning a Stanley Cup this spring than you will by having Stamkos on your top line.
Factor that in with Yzerman saying that he doesn’t foresee the Lightning making any ‘big moves’ -- granted this was before everything hit the fan with
Jonathan Drouin -- and it seems like a guarantee that Yzerman’s Bolts will make one more springtime run with Stamkos on their roster.
At least.
The more I watch the Lightning this season, the more I think that the Lightning need to find a way to keep Stamkos in town. This guy is irreplaceable as your top-line centerman. It’s not a knock on second-line center
Tyler Johnson as much as it’s a testament to what ‘Stammer’ brings to the lineup. And it will take a pretty penny to keep that around. But again, he’s worth it. 100 percent so.
But it
will take $10 million or more, whether Yzerman wants to admit that or not.
(And that’s of course if Stamkos does indeed want to remain with the Lightning.)
I’m not sure there’s a player that’s been in a crazier situation than Stamkos could be this summer, to be honest. A free agent of this magnitude? With the chance to get a max deal from literally any team that can afford it? It just doesn’t happen often in today’s game, and everybody knows it.
Then you factor in the possibility (though Toronto prefers the term ‘likelihood’) of Stamkos going to his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs as the face of the franchise in search of their first Stanley Cup since 1967 and then things get straight-up wacky. Try to understand that, for even just a minute. It’s the Hollywood story that the NBA’s Lebron James is
still trying to write in Cleveland -- on his second time around, for that matter. It’s a story that conjures up talk of ‘destiny’ and ‘fate’.
It’s Stamkos’ story in Tampa, however, that’s not come to its conclusion.
Not 27 days before Yzerman’s best and by all means last chance at controlling the ending, anyhow.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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