Plot twist: stamkos leaves as an ufa...to one of the 28 other teams in cities that dont begin with the letter T
- rangerdanger94

That's not impossible I said that and got beat down by others on that. I said maybe he says no to tampa and Toronto

Lol ok I'll say 70 percent to tampa 30 to the leafs.
- LeafsOneBillion

Well see when he starts playing with drouin this year how that changes!

Fact is tampa is not rebuilding tampa gives stamkos a better chance at the cup that's what he wants! If the leafs get mcdavid start stacking up young guys then maybe you can get him to come. But as that team is now he is not coming.
- todd1a

Toronto doesnt have a bad team and tey have some decent prospect in waiting. They are not as deep as the Lightning but not that far behind. They just need a new coach.

I still say it's 90 percent to tampa 10 percent he goes to the leafs.
- todd1a

I think the other thing that could be a factor is endorsement deals. I mean if he is the Captain of the Leafs his face is going to be on everything up here from Cereal to Shampoo.. Huge $$..
Does he do a lot of endorsements in the US now? Sorry.. I dont know..

Toronto doesnt have a bad team and tey have some decent prospect in waiting. They are not as deep as the Lightning but not that far behind. They just need a new coach.
- TBolts4

Ya there not bad but there not a cup contender and there not a lottery team. But I'm saying if they want stamkos there going to have to set this up! With changes gm coach some players!

Ya there not bad but there not a cup contender and there not a lottery team. But I'm saying if they want stamkos there going to have to set this up! With changes gm coach some players!
- todd1a

Like one leaf said, put Stammer on the Leafs and they are a lock for a playoff spot. Wait, Carlyle would find a way to screw it up.

Toronto doesnt have a bad team and tey have some decent prospect in waiting. They are not as deep as the Lightning but not that far behind. They just need a new coach.
- TBolts4

New coach? Randy Carlyle is perfect for #tanknation

My plan -

Tank with Carlyle for the first year. Next year throw that MLSE money at Babcock. Babcock gets one wash year and then it's go time once Stamkos comes home.

That's not impossible I said that and got beat down by others on that. I said maybe he says no to tampa and Toronto
- todd1a

Logic would dictate that he re-signs in Tampa. When's the last time any player went back to their "boyhood dream team"? Like seriously? Shattenkirk said he was a Rangers fan growing up and it's his dream to be a Ranger but does that mean he's going to leave a perfectly good situation in St. Louis and jump ship?

What's going to happen IF Stamkos even his July 1st as an unrestricted free agent is that he's going to get 30 offers from 30 teams. He will assess each one and pick the one that gives him the BEST chance at winning relative to the offered salary. The team that's the BEST fit for the right price will be the one he chooses. Whether that's Tampa, Toronto (doubt it), the Rangers, the Islanders, Nashville, who da F knows? There could be a new great team in the NHL 1 center away from being a perennial Cup contender 2 years from now that he could very well choose.

New coach? Randy Carlyle is perfect for #tanknation

My plan -

Tank with Carlyle for the first year. Next year throw that MLSE money at Babcock. Babcock gets one wash year and then it's go time once Stamkos comes home.
- LeafsOneBillion

Let's say that happens- what's your plan for the D?

It WOULD be pretty cool if you guys got McDavid.
- OzBolts

I wish! But there's no chance. Unfortunately the Leafs are just good enough to miss the playoffs again but be nowhere near the lotto. And they won't tank.

Let's say that happens- what's your plan for the D?
- OzBolts

Liles is a free agent in 2016.

Liles is a free agent in 2016.
- rangerdanger94

Liles is a free agent in 2016.
- rangerdanger94

Wasn't there some joke going around that Fletcher mistook Jeff Finger for someone else before he signed that contract? Or was that even a joke?

Ah, reminds me of the days where our scouting department consisted of Esposito and a bunch of satellites... which, sadly, wasn't even all that long ago... (lol, Svitov... ouch)

Let's say that happens- what's your plan for the D?
- OzBolts

The plans for the D hinges on Gards and Reilly really. In 2 years they need to have Reilly or Gardiner able to play on first pairing and 2nd pairing. I'd like to see Dion traded but only for fair value i.e. I'd keep that idiot if I couldn't get an idiot to bite. But really the leafs d hinges on Reilly and Gards being top 4 dman and guys like Percy, Granberg and Finn becoming solid depth guys.

It's summer. A Tampa player said something of note. I blogged about it. So did EVERY other blog, mainstream media source, etc. It's news. If I didn't write about it, I wouldn't be doing my job.

The Toronto fans in here aren't trolling. This isn't "feeding the trolls" at all. This is having a hockey discussion about a player who brought this story on himself.
- Michael_Stuart

As per the bolded above: nonsense and double nonsense.

He said absolutely nothing of note. Absolutely nothing.

He was at some stupid corporate event in Toronto, and the Toronto media resent being shills for Coca-Cola. They are bored and lazy. So they ask Stamkos if he would like to play in Toronto in two years.

So from Stamkos' perpective:

- you have to say something polite about Toronto, because you are standing in Toronto, being paid by Coke. You can't anger the crowd (do you really think that the band playing your town really thinks that Tampa knows how to rock more than any other city in America?). So you say something innocent about it being a great hockey town, great fans, always fun to play here.

- OK, now that that is over, you need to come back and say something about Tampa. So you compliment the fans, say the team is looking good, and wait, here's the kicker: that you are really focused on winning the Stanley Cup. Wow, I never, ever would have thought of that!

Stamkos may be 100% coming to Toronto.

He may be 100% staying in Tampa.

But let's be perfectly clear: the gobbledy-gook he spilt out of his mouth the other day has no value whatsoever in trying to determine what he is thinking.

I know it's summer. I know you have to crank out a blog.

I'm not mad at you. I swear.

Let's say that happens- what's your plan for the D?
- OzBolts

Did you not see that Cody Franson is still a Leaf? Who needs a plan?

The plans for the D hinges on Gards and Reilly really. In 2 years they need to have Reilly or Gardiner able to play on first pairing and 2nd pairing. I'd like to see Dion traded but only for fair value i.e. I'd keep that idiot if I couldn't get an idiot to bite. But really the leafs d hinges on Reilly and Gards being top 4 dman and guys like Percy, Granberg and Finn becoming solid depth guys.
- LeafsOneBillion

I could see that happening, but even so, with the depth of Percy, Granberg, Reilly and Gardiner, keeping Phaneuf and having the D run 3 decent pairings that can handle respectable amounts of ToI, rather than the traditional 1,2 and GOAL pairings, wouldn't be bad, either.

Lol ok I'll say 70 percent to tampa 30 to the leafs.
- LeafsOneBillion

I'll say 27% Leafs and around 73% to Tampa.

As per the bolded above: nonsense and double nonsense.

He said absolutely nothing of note. Absolutely nothing.

He was at some stupid corporate event in Toronto, and the Toronto media resent being shills for Coca-Cola. They are bored and lazy. So they ask Stamkos if he would like to play in Toronto in two years.

So from Stamkos' perpective:

- you have to say something polite about Toronto, because you are standing in Toronto, being paid by Coke. You can't anger the crowd (do you really think that the band playing your town really thinks that Tampa knows how to rock more than any other city in America?). So you say something innocent about it being a great hockey town, great fans, always fun to play here.

- OK, now that that is over, you need to come back and say something about Tampa. So you compliment the fans, say the team is looking good, and wait, here's the kicker: that you are really focused on winning the Stanley Cup. Wow, I never, ever would have thought of that!

Stamkos may be 100% coming to Toronto.

He may be 100% staying in Tampa.

But let's be perfectly clear: the gobbledy-gook he spilt out of his mouth the other day has no value whatsoever in trying to determine what he is thinking.

I know it's summer. I know you have to crank out a blog.

I'm not mad at you. I swear.
- Atomic Wedgie

That was some bad tl;dr. Stamkos went out of his way to favourite the tweet. The Toronto media is always lying in wait to pounce, but Stamkos opened the flood gate himself.

As per the bolded above: nonsense and double nonsense.

He said absolutely nothing of note. Absolutely nothing.

He was at some stupid corporate event in Toronto, and the Toronto media resent being shills for Coca-Cola. They are bored and lazy. So they ask Stamkos if he would like to play in Toronto in two years.

So from Stamkos' perpective:

- you have to say something polite about Toronto, because you are standing in Toronto, being paid by Coke. You can't anger the crowd (do you really think that the band playing your town really thinks that Tampa knows how to rock more than any other city in America?). So you say something innocent about it being a great hockey town, great fans, always fun to play here.

- OK, now that that is over, you need to come back and say something about Tampa. So you compliment the fans, say the team is looking good, and wait, here's the kicker: that you are really focused on winning the Stanley Cup. Wow, I never, ever would have thought of that!

Stamkos may be 100% coming to Toronto.

He may be 100% staying in Tampa.

But let's be perfectly clear: the gobbledy-gook he spilt out of his mouth the other day has no value whatsoever in trying to determine what he is thinking.

I know it's summer. I know you have to crank out a blog.

I'm not mad at you. I swear.
- Atomic Wedgie

Holy crap everyone is overanalyzing this entire situation. Talking about perspectives and dreams and motivations and good PR and projected lineups 2 years from now including prospects hardly anybody has ever seen even play. All over a friggin favorited tweet. Maybe he accidentally hit favorite when he was scrolling through his Twitter feed drunk? That tweet isn't even favorited anymore from what I can tell.

Can we talk about Stralman again? Or how about Brian Boyle? We haven't talked about Brian Boyle yet.

As per the bolded above: nonsense and double nonsense.

He said absolutely nothing of note. Absolutely nothing.

He was at some stupid corporate event in Toronto, and the Toronto media resent being shills for Coca-Cola. They are bored and lazy. So they ask Stamkos if he would like to play in Toronto in two years.

So from Stamkos' perpective:

- you have to say something polite about Toronto, because you are standing in Toronto, being paid by Coke. You can't anger the crowd (do you really think that the band playing your town really thinks that Tampa knows how to rock more than any other city in America?). So you say something innocent about it being a great hockey town, great fans, always fun to play here.

- OK, now that that is over, you need to come back and say something about Tampa. So you compliment the fans, say the team is looking good, and wait, here's the kicker: that you are really focused on winning the Stanley Cup. Wow, I never, ever would have thought of that!

Stamkos may be 100% coming to Toronto.

He may be 100% staying in Tampa.

But let's be perfectly clear: the gobbledy-gook he spilt out of his mouth the other day has no value whatsoever in trying to determine what he is thinking.

I know it's summer. I know you have to crank out a blog.

I'm not mad at you. I swear.
- Atomic Wedgie

Football Player: And after playing for New England, San Diego, Houston, St. Louis, a year for the Toronto Argonauts, plus one season as a greeter at the Desert Inn, I'm happy to finally play here in the fine city of Miami!
Official: [rises and whispers into his ear] Minnesota. [sits down]
Football Player: Whatever.

I'll say 27% Leafs and around 73% to Tampa.
- Cptmjl

July 1st, 2016:Tampa Bay Star Center Steven Stamkos BOLTS for the KHL



The (frank)er had us all going the entire time.......

I could see that happening, but even so, with the depth of Percy, Granberg, Reilly and Gardiner, keeping Phaneuf and having the D run 3 decent pairings that can handle respectable amounts of ToI, rather than the traditional 1,2 and GOAL pairings, wouldn't be bad, either.
- OzBolts

I agree completely.

I could see that happening, but even so, with the depth of Percy, Granberg, Reilly and Gardiner, keeping Phaneuf and having the D run 3 decent pairings that can handle respectable amounts of ToI, rather than the traditional 1,2 and GOAL pairings, wouldn't be bad, either.
- OzBolts

That seem to be one of Dion down fall as he was playing a lot of minutes and let's not kid ourselves the leafs were always in their own zone which makes those minutes even harder.

I'll say 27% Leafs and around 73% to Tampa.
- Cptmjl

Source?