Some people in Toronto still have their sights set on Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos once he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
If there has been any storyline here the Bolts Nation that has grown from a mere whisper to the monster that hides in your closet at night only to awaken you when you’ve finally found blissful sleep, it is the negotiations between the Tampa Bay Lightning and captain Steven Stamkos.
Much like with Jonathan Drouin, there has been all manner of speculation as to where the 26-year old Ontario native will end up when the 2015-16 NHL Season comes to a close and the Free Agency period officially opens up. The one name that continues to come up in this conversation, even if it is mostly by their own doing, is the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Throughout the course of the season, Steven Stamkos has met with a barrage of questions from the media; especially when the team would travel to Toronto. It is hard to keep your focus on the task at hand when people continually hound you with the same question when they know well and good you don’t have a valid answer for them. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always stop the mainstream media.
As the NHL Trade Deadline loomed in the distance, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman came out and guaranteed that Steven Stamkos would not be traded before the NHL Trade Deadline. As you can imagine, this took a lot of pressure off of the young Lightning captain and allowed him to focus on what is most important; winning games and bringing home points.
Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning are headed to the Air Canada Centre to prepare to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Eastern Conference showdown. Once again, Steven Stamkos find himself the center of attention in the news once again.
Earlier today, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted an image of an article in the Toronto Star. About the only thing, you can gather from the article is they are adding fuel to the “Stamkos to Toronto” fire. As you can imagine, this sparked our interest. Now, we simply had to see what they have to say now.
Before we get into the article itself, allow us to paint the current scene for you. The Toronto Maple Leafs are not only last place in the Eastern Conference. They are also in last place in the National Hockey League. In other words, the chances of them making the playoffs are just about as likely as a snowball surviving the fires of hell. In other words, they don’t have much to lose, but they have everything to gain.
Judging, by the way the Toronto Maple Leafs were wheeling and dealing before the NHL Trade Deadline and clearing all kinds of cap space, it is obvious they are going to be buyers in Free Agency. They are a team who wants to make their way back to the top of the NHL and regain some of the respect the club once had. This is going to involve the addition of quite a few new and younger faces.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs had it their way, one of their new acquisitions would be Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Now, for those of you who have been following this ordeal, Steven Stamkos has repeatedly said that he enjoys playing here in Tampa Bay and wants to win a championship with this group of players.
These are not the words of someone who is looking to jump ship at the first opportunity. At the same time, this is also not a guarantee that things cannot change in between now and July 1st.
Here is a look at what Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star had to say about the situation.
"“Acquiring late-career, past-due veterans was once a Maple Leafs specialty that rarely proved fruitful. But Stamkos is a new kind of free agent.” Feschuk said. “He turned a mere 26 last month. And even while playing under the attendant stress of a contract year — even while labouring for a coach, Jon Cooper, who has often deployed Stamkos like a second- or third-liner — Stamkos is on pace for 37 goals. As Babcock raved earlier this season, Tampa’s captain has been skating at an eye-popping level we haven’t seen since he broke his leg in November of 2013.”"
Feschuk does make some very valid points; especially given Steven Stamkos’ play immediately following the “break heard around the world” in Boston back on November 11, 2013. It’s always a good thing to note when the coach of an opposing team has positive things to say about your star captain, but at the end of the day, it’s not a guarantee they will be aggressively pursuing him in the off-season.
A little later in the article, we hear from Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly. If one were to read a little too deep into this one, it might seem as if Rielly is making a sales pitch to Steven Stamkos without even realizing what he’s doing.
"“I think as a group we’re very optimistic about having bright future, and having that future come sooner than later,” Rielly told Feschuk. “We’ve got the best fans. We have a group here that wants to win. We have the pieces in place that are pointing in that right direction. So for me, if I was taking an outside look at it, I would think it would be an exciting opportunity.”"
At the end of the day, people are going to say whatever they have to do to support their opinions and desires. At this point and time, things seem to be on the up and up from both Steve Yzerman and Steven Stamkos. While neither party is willing to speak on the issue; especially not until the end of the season, there seems to be an air of positivity that a deal can be reached.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may very well have to shed some cap space if they want to be able to make an offer to Steven Stamkos that is beneficial to both parties, but that is another story for another day. At this point, we here at Bolts By The Bay will err on the side of positivity.
Next: Impact of Not Signing Stamkos By The NHL Trade Deadline
We have disagreed with some of Yzerman’s decisions over the course of his tenure here in the Bolts Nation, but at the end of the day, each of those decisions has been in the best interest of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Why should this one be any different?