Steven Stamkos has been the man for the Tampa Bay Lightning since he was an 18-year-old No. 1 pick prior to the 2008-09 season. His time with the Lightning appears to be growing short as he is scheduled to become a free agent July 1.
Neither Stamkos nor the team have said any official goodbyes at this point, and both have expressed a desire to remain together. However, the Lightning have huge cap issues at this point and Stamkos is 33 years old and is no longer be at the peak of his powers. As a result, both Stamkos and general manager Julien BriseBois may have to come to a painful conclusion.
BriseBois addressed the situation realistically in a Friday morning session with reporters.
“As we stand here right now, we haven’t been able to reach an agreement yet,” BriseBois said (via Gabby Shirley). “I don’t know if we will be able to reach an agreement, but we met with Steven’s agent again yesterday and both sides are still interested in getting a deal done. But we have not been able to agree to terms that are satisfactory for both sides. I think, at this time, it’s probably best if I leave my comments to that for the time being.”
Stamkos is still a viable goal scorer
Stamkos scored 51 goals or more twice during the first four years of his career. While he hasn't reached that kind of level since the 2011-12 season, he is still a powerful goal scorer and an excellent power play weapon.
Stamkos scored 40 goals and 41 assists last year for the Lightning and he has scored 40 goals or more seven times in his career. He is a two-time Stanley Cup winner, a two-time Maurice Richard winner, a two-time All-Star and the 2022-23 Mark Messier Award winner.
In addition to his scoring skills, he is a tremendous leader in the Tampa Bay locker room and he has always been widely admired for the courageous way he has played the game. He set the tone early for that in his career during the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs when he was hit in the face shield by a rocket slap shot off the stick of Johnny Boychuk of the Boston Bruins in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Despite breaking his nose on the play, he was back on the ice in less than 30 minutes.
Stamkos headed for the free-agent market
There is still time for a deal to be made with the Lightning, but that appears unlikely at this point. If he was going to stay in Tampa Bay, that contract likely would have been finalized by now.
The two teams that agent Don Meehan are most likely to be involved with at this point include the Detroit Red Wings and the Nashville Predators.
The Red Wings are fronted by Steve Yzerman, and he is clearly very familiar with everything that Stamkos brings to the table because he was the general manager of the Lightning from 2010 through 2018.
Nashville general manager Barry Trotz has seen Stamkos attack the net and score goals throughout the whole of his career. His ability to put the puck in the net would be a huge asset for the Preds.
Other teams seem likely to be quite interested in the high-character and talented Steven Stamkos.
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