Tampa Bay Lightning: Will The Lightning Re-Sign Steven Stamkos?
The Free Agency Period is less than a month away, and the Tampa Bay Lightning re faced with the potential of moving forward without captain Steven Stamkos.
Ever since the first puck dropped to start the 2015-16 season, there has been one storyline that has been burning a hole through the minds of the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans. In less than one month’s time, the 2016 NHL Free Agency Period will kick off and the Lightning will be faced with a very serious decision.
Will the Tampa Bay Lightning be able to come to a mutually-beneficial agreement on a contract extension with Lightning captain Steven Stamkos or will the Lightning be forced to move forward without the player who has been by their side since being drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Unfortunately for everyone here in the Bolts Nation, this may come down to a matter of necessity as opposed to a matter of desire. There is no denying Steven Stamkos is going to be looking for a bump in salary in his new contract. The question becomes whether or not the Lightning will have the money to make it happen.
Now, let’s take a few steps back. Steven Stamkos has given every indication that he wants to remain with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In fact, there were even rumors that an offer of $8.5 million per year. Sure, this is a three million dollar per year bump from what he is currently making, but is it enough to keep him here in Tampa Bay?
Fans certainly couldn’t blame him if he decided to play the market, but given everything he’s said, it would seem as if he has every intention of staying here in Tampa Bay. In an interview with Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Steven Stamkos had nothing but good things to say about his experience with the Tampa Bay Lightning and stated the team has some unfinished business to take care of.
"“I hope to be back,” Stamkos told Smith. “We have some unfinished business. This group has been unbelievable, this city has been unbelievable to me. I can’t believe it’s been eight years already, time flies. The last couple years, you can finally see that light, you still haven’t got to it, but it’s there, it’s dangling right in front of us. When you start something, you want to finish it, and i really hope that can be the case.”"
His statements seem to ring true to the kind of person we’ve known Steven Stamkos to be. Unfortunately, this brings about one very serious question. Why was there no agreement made between Steven Stamkos and Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman prior to the NHL Trade Deadline?
Everything seems like wine and roses now, but should Stamkos decide the grass is greener on the other side, the Lightning will have to face the very real possibility Steven Stamkos may be in a different color jersey next season. This means, essentially, the Tampa Bay Lightning will lose one of their top assets and get absolutely nothing in return. Should this situation come to pass, it may very well be one of the worst things this team has experienced since the “Cowboy Era.”
At the same time, is signing one piece of the puzzle worth dismantling the core of the team? In addition to Steven Stamkos, players like Alex Killorn, J.T. Brown, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Nesterov, Cedric Paquette, Kristers Gudlevskis, Jonathan Marchessault, Luke Witkowski, and many more are set to be Restricted Free Agents on July 1st, and many of them will be looking for more money moving forward.
As of right this minute, the Tampa Bay Lightning only have a little under $1.8 million in cap space. Judging by the looks of things, not much will be changing in the coming year. As you can see, this doesn’t leave a whole lot of room to re-up their players; especially when one of those players can demand the upside of $10 million per year.
We are well-aware this is going to be the unpopular opinion, but we just can’t see a way in which the Tampa Bay Lightning will be able to re-sign captain Steven Stamkos without dismantling a good portion of the chemistry that has gotten the team as far as it has gone in the last couple of seasons. This is not a reflection or Stamkos’ work ethic, playing ability, or attitude towards the team or the community. This is simply looking at the matter from a business standpoint.
In addition to the aforementioned players who are becoming Free Agents this season, players like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Victor Hedman, Ben Bishop, and many more key pieces to the Lightning’s dynamic core will become Free Agents at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.
Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: A Season In Review
The Free Agency Period is going to be a long and winding road for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steve Yzerman is definitely going to have his work cut out for him. The one thing we all need to remember heading into this is the logo on the front of the jersey far outweighs the name on the back of the jersey, even if the name on the back of the jersey is Stamkos.