Steven Stamkos Not Worried About Contract Situation, Says It’s In ‘Middle Stages’

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has expressed that he is not worried about the status of his contract extension, rather focused on the new season.

If you take the Tampa Bay Lightning’s tremendous run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season out of the equation, the biggest topic of discussion here in the Bolts Nation has been the contract situation, and impending Free Agent status, of Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.

Everyone and their mother has an opinion about this situation and what it could mean for the Tampa Bay Lightning next season. If you ask Hockey Commentator Don Cherry about the situation, he will guarantee you that Steven Stamkos is destined to find a new home at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season. At the same time, if you ask someone like us, they will tell you that the captain isn’t going anywhere.

This kind of differential has many Tampa Bay Lightning fans worried that the two-time Rocket Richard winner may actually be exploring his options and considering a change of residence in the near future. It is definitely not helping matters much that there has been little to no real news on the subject to report in the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, that is about to come to an end.

The Tampa Bay Lightning players have finally returned to the Bay Area and the players have started taking drills at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. Tampa Bay Times Staff Writer Joe Smith had an opportunity to catch up with the young Lightning captain, and we finally have a small tidbit of information on the status of the contract situation that won’t seem to go away.

Stamkos told Smith that the contract discussion are now around the “middle stages.” The good news is that they have an entire season to get a deal worked out before they find themselves in any sort of a deadline situation. If you ask us, we don’t think things are going to get that far.

At the same time, there is still one question looming in the minds of Tampa Bay Lightning fans around the Bolts Nation. Will something like this weigh down the minds of the Tampa Bay Lightning players and serve as a distraction in the upcoming season.

Once again, the young Lightning captain has an answer. The good news is, it should sound like music to the ears of Lightning fans.

"“My teammates know the kind of person that I am, the type of leader that I am,” Stamkos told Smith. “I’m going to do everything possible to help our team win games. As long as that’s the mentality, nothing else should really bug us.”"

The Tampa Bay Lightning may have had a short summer before heading back to work, but this could very well work in the Lightning’s advantage. This young team had an incredible opportunity last season. While they may not have achieved the result they hoped for, the experience they gained is absolutely invaluable.

These young players are hungry to get back to where they were last season, and this is going to cause them to work twice as hard to fight against destiny and be the first team to have back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals appearances since the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins did battle in the 2008-09 season.

There is nothing that we can say that is going to fully extinguish the worry in some people’s minds about the Stamkos contract situation, but hopefully the captain’s words and the dedication of the team to achieve their goals and make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals once again can provide some sort of solace as we head into the 2015-16 season.

Do you agree with the captain that his contract will work itself out in due time, or are you worried that he is still exploring his options? Do you think the Tampa Bay Lightning has what it takes to put this situation on the back burner and concentrate on the season ahead? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Could the Tampa Bay Lightning Suffer from ‘Cup Hangover’?

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