In case you hadn't heard, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos remains unsigned beyond July 1. His situation continues to be monitored closely by the NHL at large and for good reason - Stamkos is a wildly popular and supremely talented player that helped lead one of the best offenses to the Cup Finals last year while playing out of position on the wing. Again this season, Stamkos has found himself displaced from his preferred center spot. Coupled with his lack of a new deal and the completer and utter silence surrounding his contract talks with the Lightning (not to mention Stamkos' recent social media foibles) and it's fair to wonder just what will come for one of the league's best young players. But for those in the know, for those with their ear to ground in and around Tampa Bay, it's clear what GM Steve Yzerman's preference is.
"I don't think Tampa has any intention of trading him," Pierre LeBrun said Wednesday, while appearing on Hamilton's TSN 1150, per the transcription from Today's Slap Shot. "The only focus from Steve Yzerman is trying to sign him and that's the only thing that really Steve Yzerman has said since the onset. And if you know Steve Yzerman, you know he's a man of his word.
"So I don't think there's any - any - intention of trading him. He will try until the eleventh hour to sign him."
Now, not trading him doesn't necessarily mean keeping him. Stamkos could potentially remain with the team through the season and eventually choose to depart as a free agent. But it's probably pretty safe to assume that if Yzerman eventually realizes he's not going to get Stamkos signed to a deal, that he'd prefer to acquire whatever assets he can via losing such a talented and valuable player ahead of the league's late February trade deadline, than to simply watch Stamkos walk away, unfettered, this offseason.
With Stamkos on the wing, the Lightning rattled off wins in two of their last three games. While they fell to the surging Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, they'll be given the opportunity to get things back on track Wednesday at home against the Ottawa Senators. Some have openly wondered at this point whether the current makeup of the Tampa roster makes Stamkos' ideal position winger. If so, Stamkos' recent comments indicating that he prefers to play center may carry a bit more meaning.
As LeBrun notes, it likely says something - though it's hard to tell exactly what that something is - that Stamkos hasn't re-signed yet. But connecting the dots on a blockbuster trade elsewhere seems silly at this point. Or, as LeBrun puts it, "idiotic," especially from the perspective of a team so often linked to Stamkos - his hometown franchise, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"You know he's going to be UFA July 1. Why would you give up any assets for him, right," LeBrun mused. "So if you're the Leafs and you do think you should sign him - and we don't know that for sure, but it would certainly make sense for a rebuilding team to bring back a hometown star if they could - but you do not want to give up assets. The Leafs are not in the business right now of affording the luxury of giving up any assets for anyone, in terms of young assets.
"So you've got to wait. You've got to wait like everyone else, and then make your pitch when he's free. But otherwise, I would not - at all - trade for him."
Stamkos, as an established star with a no-move clause, will have plenty to say on his own future in the coming months (with actions if not necessarily in words).
The Lightning and Yzerman, just as LeBrun suggests, likely have no active desire to ship him elsewhere. But their concern isn't just keeping Stamkos in place. It's their salary cap situation and maintaining a competitive roster that is financially balanced. It's also seeing players like Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Cedric Paquette and, soon, Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman, locked up with new deals of their own.
Only Stamkos knows what he really wants, and reading between the lines of possibly passive-aggressive Twitter likes aside, the rest of the hockey world isn't likely to know what that is for quite some time, when something, one way or another, finally gives.
