If there are two things most hockey fans and my readers could agree on; it would be that the Toronto Maple Leafs have a long way to go before they are a playoff team let alone a contender for the cup, and the fact that Steven Stamkos is an incredible hockey player.
So why’s it that Steven Stamkos would want to ‘bolt’ from the Tampa Bay Lightning and join the Toronto Maple Leafs?
- Perhaps the ten+ million dollar salary for 7 years? - Maybe playing in front of his home crowd? (Markham born) - Being in his prime in the Toronto spotlight - Being the leader who brought the Cup back to Toronto after all these years
There are many reasons why Stamkos may want to pack his bags in Tampa Bay and come home to play in Toronto. There are also many reasons why Steven Stamkos wouldn’t want to come to Toronto. The Leafs have a long way to go and are just embarking in a rebuild that will likely take a few years before results begin to show. One would think Stamkos’ presence would quicken up the rebuild. Not only his skills and leadership on the ice, but him being here may attract more players to come.
Coach Babcock did mention something along the lines of the Leafs getting the organization on track and players will want to play in Toronto when it’s stable. Shanahan calling the shots, with Babcock behind the bench and Lamoriello putting in his two cents while grooming Dubas; things are looking up in Toronto. If the Leafs can continue to be patient with prospects and make a few quality trades this season, who knows what the future holds. Add in a player like Stamkos for eight seasons and that alone may attract some elite talent to come home and bring back the glory into Leafs Nation.
Did you think the Leafs would sign Babcock for eight years at fifty million dollars? Likely not, so there is the chance the homegrown talent Stamkos could not resign in Tampa Bay and ink a deal in Toronto for ten million a year and voila, the Leafs have a new face of the franchise and leader.
Perhaps this is quite far-fetched? Nothing surprises me these days when it comes to trades and signings. Now, I’m not saying it’s happening, because your guess is as good as mine. But take a look at Tampa’s roster, lots of quality young players, and very little wiggle room in their salary cap.
Stamkos has a 7.5 million dollar cap hit right now, but of course is a UFA after the season is complete. Tampa will likely have to increase his salary by a million or two to keep him.
Killorn makes 2.55 and will be an RFA next season. JT Brown makes 950 000 and will be an RFA next season. Namestnikov makes 875 000 and will be an RFA next season. Kucherov makes 711 000 and will be an RFA next season. Paquette makes 633 000 and will be an RFA next season. Coburn makes 4.5 and will be a UFA. Ohlund makes 3.6 and will be a UFA.
That is a lot of quality players on Tampa’s roster that will want to be kept for the future. Who really stands out are Namestnikov, Kucherov and Paquette who have high ceilings in terms of potential down the road. Kucherov really exploded last season, so you can be he is due for a large raise.
Tampa Bay is going to have to let players walk, or make a few trades for young cheap players to be able to afford to pay Stamkos 8-10 million dollars a season. Yzerman sure has his work cut out for him, keep in mind 2017-18 Drouin will also be an RFA and should be an established NHL player by that time.
Toronto is one of the few teams in the league that has hordes of cash available to sign a player like Stamkos. Don't get me wrong, I understand there would be a lineup of teams who would shed salary just so they could open up room for Stammer. Nevertheless, the Leafs would be Stamkos’ home town and would throw the bank at him. After all, Toronto will have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 35-40 million to spend next season, and will have an onslaught of young players with low salaries for a couple more seasons. Would Stamkos want to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning who is a quality all round team to come to Toronto?
That is the big question.
If you can remember in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Stamkos didn’t exactly have fortunes of ice time, as the young line of Palat, Johnson and Kucherov certainly got their fair share of ice time. Many fans of hockey watching wondered why Steven wasn’t getting as much ice time as they thought he should be getting. Which of course continues to bring forth more speculation from Leafs fans as there has been an undying hope that Stamkos comes to Toronto ever since he favorited a tweet about joining the Leafs in two years.
You can’t blame us Leaf fans for hoping Stamkos comes to Toronto. Who wouldn’t want one of the best players in the NHL?
I get it, between his family, friends and everyone else who watched Stamkos play growing up; he must get a lot of pressure or hints towards joining up with the Leafs organization. That may be something that pushes an athlete away from joining up with their home town. A lot of pressure to perform and become the hero that brings the team to the promise land. People/players loved to be liked and looked up to, but there is also a time for them to lay low and go about their life without people constantly talking about the game and the future. It’s certainly much more of a hockey mecca in Toronto than it is in Florida, so you can imagine it would be quite the change for Stamkos. Hopefully this is something he would be excited to dive into and embrace.
Only time will tell what direction Stamkos wants to take his career path in the NHL, hopefully it’s in Toronto and he is the first big piece to come home to get the Leafs back on track to their winning ways.
“I believe this is Canada’s team,… Mike Babcock said. “And we need to put Canada’s team back on the map.…
Who better to start the ball rolling than Stammer himself?
Thanks for reading, have a great week and prepare yourselves for the rookie tournament which is the first step in the process to getting the boys on the ice to get this 2015/16 underway.