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How passive-aggressive are you?
First, ask yourself this: Have you ever ‘liked’ or ‘favorited’ something that you knew was a dig at you just to let that person know ‘Hey, I see this and I don’t like it’? If so, then congratulations, you are like 90% of the Internet culture you live in today. Or are you just a really bad liar? To answer this, again, ask yourself this: Have you ever ‘liked’ or ‘favorited’ something about you, realized that it could be taken the wrong way, and then immediately unliked it only to claim it was an accident?
If yes, you are indeed a truly terrible liar. Or Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.
In case you didn’t hear, Stamkos ‘liked’ a tweet from TSN last week. The tweet was a video discussing the possibility of Stamkos, an unrestricted free agent that will command and receive a near max-deal from some NHL GM, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs next summer. This wouldn’t be a big deal to most. But this isn’t the first time that Stamkos has done this exact thing. In fact, he did it five months ago when the Hockey News’ Twitter posted an article talking about Stamkos potentially returning to his hometown (Stamkos grew up just miles from Toronto in Markham, Ont.) as a Lebron-esque figure.
What was that thing George W. Bush tried to say that one time?
That was yet another chapter in the Year of the Distraction for Stamkos and Bolts, who still could not find a way to quiet the rumors of Stamkos’ future following Tuesday’s visit to Toronto. (As if, right?)
But by now, doesn’t it seem obvious? Stamkos is going to leave the Lightning.
I mean, ask yourself this: Has there been a single thing said by either Stamkos or general manager Steve Yzerman that gives you even the slightest bit of confidence when it comes to the idea of re-upping No. 91? I know that would of course go against the parties’ preference to keep talks ‘private’, but we know how this goes. Had there been any, you would theoretically hear of ‘progress’ when it comes to a new contract. Things leak. Stuff slips. And yet, you haven’t heard a word.
Not a positive one, anyway. This is a guy (Stamkos) that actually came out to tell reporters that a report that his parents had moved to Florida was false. He fed into that and reported it as false, as if to purposely let people know that he’s not that close with the Sunshine State. Weird.
This entire saga has become everything that Stamkos and Yzerman didn’t want it to be-- a distraction.
It’s a distraction for a Tampa squad that currently sits in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 35 points in 32 games (they are just nine points better than the last-place Toronto Maple Leafs despite playing three more games). It’s a distraction for a Stamkos that’s scored just 11 goals and 22 points in 32 games this season, including zero goals in his last 10 and just two in his last 14 games played. Stamkos is currently paced for a 28-goal year, which would be the second-fewest in any full season (Stamkos scored just 23 goals in his first year in the NHL all the way back in 2008-09).
And now comes the question of what to do with the 25-year-old unrestricted free agent to be?
If we are to believe what Yzerman has said, the Lightning will ride Stamkos to the finish line this year. For better or worse and in spite of their struggles a month before the halfway mark of the year, Yzerman doesn’t see himself making any ‘big trades’ when it comes to this year’s team. And you can bet that moving somebody of Stamkos’ ilk classifies as big. It might be the only big move, actually.
Teams would offer quite a package, too. Although any team out there could seemingly sign Stamkos to a major payday this summer, the allure of a Stanley Cup now -- especially if it’s coming from a city starved for success or operating on a short-term window -- means that there will be suitors out there.
And the haul could be tremendous.
But even if it’s not, you’d think a return like that is better than nothing come July 1. (If the Bolts were able to get two second-round picks for Brett Connolly, a deal the Bolts ‘had’ to make the facilitate the Coburn deal, last March, imagine what they could get for No. 91?)
However, the fact that teams can just throw monstrous sums of money at Stamkos rather than trade assets to acquire him makes a trade a bit tougher. And the Bolts know this. Or at least they should. So maybe hanging on to Stamkos and hoping for a change in the Lightning’s play makes sense. I mean, regardless of their struggles thus far, the East is still wide open enough for the Bolts to win the Eastern Conference like they did a year ago if they can get in the postseason in almost seeding.
In essence, everything is on the table right now for the Lightning.
Amid this uncertainty, one thing seems certain, and that’s Stamkos’ departure from the Bay.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Boston Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.