Many Tampa Bay Lightning fans are in a state of panic because captain Steven Stamkos has not yet signed his contract, but the situation is definitely not Code Red at the moment.
It has happened once before, and there is nothing that is going to stop it from happening once again. Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos’ contract set to come to an end at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season and there are many fans that are at their wits end as to why he has yet to be signed to a new contract.
While we will agree that the continuation of this process into the regular season could potentially be a rather large distraction for not only the fans in the stands, but they players on the ice as well, we have not yet reached emergency status here in Hockey Paradise.
Of course, if you listen to people like Don Cherry, you would think that Steven Stamkos has already inked his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and that they are hiding it away in a locked vault until the Free Agency Period finally opens up. Thankfully, it seems as if that was just a lot of vigorous pot stirring.
The first thing that people need to remember is that Steven Stamkos is happy where he is now. In fact, Stamkos has said himself that he wants to win a championship with the group of guys he is playing with now. Now, we can all take this with a grain of salt, but at least for now it seems as if he doesn’t have intentions of leaving anytime soon.
The second thing people should think about is that you won’t catch Steven Stamkos losing any sleep over his current contract situation. In fact, he is pretty confident that things will work themselves out when the time is right.
"“I’m a big believer that when the time is right, [the contract will] take care of itself,” he tells NHL.com. “I’m not sitting here … waiting for a phone call. It’s not on the front of my mind right now … but we’ll definitely be getting something worked out, hopefully shortly.”"
Just when that time is remains a mystery, but if he isn’t worried about it then why should we be?
The biggest thing that people need to take heed of is this. At the end of the day, hockey is much more than a game. To the people in the office and the players on the ice, hockey is very much a business. If Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman has the ability to get a deal done that will be beneficial to both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steven Stamkos, then a deal will get done.
If for some reason there is a knot in the chain somewhere, we will address those concerns when they come about. We know that the longer this trails on, the more the rumors are going to continue on and the more people are going to worry about whether or not the Lightning’s star center will return for another season. Hopefully, it will not serve as a distraction for a young team that will be doing their best to make another run at the Stanley Cup.
No matter how you slice it, when it comes to hockey the name on the front of the sweater is much more important than the name on the back of the sweater. At the end of the day, what will be will in fact be. Will the future of the Tampa Bay Lightning remain with Steven Stamkos? Maybe, maybe not…we’ll have to wait and see. No use panicking in the meantime.
So, in summary…sit back in your chairs, take a deep breath in, hold it for a few seconds, and then slowly exhale. We are only a few more weeks from the Tampa Bay Lightning Home Opener at the Amalie Arena when all of our favorite Boys in Blue will hit the ice once again, and hopefully sooner rather than later, all this craziness of Stamkos’ contract signing will be long behind us.
The more important question here is, are you ready to Be The Thunder once again?
Next: Jonathan Drouin Determined To Make An Impact Next Season
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