Tampa Bay Lightning

Whispers Surface Lightning May Try to Trade Steven Stamkos

Ultimately, the player has all the control, but there is talk about the future of Steven Stamkos with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

by
Colton Pankiw
July 12, 2021

In recent years, Steven Stamkos is no stranger to trade rumors. Given the Tampa Bay Lightning’s well documented struggles to remain cap compliant, there has been chatter in the past that they considered moving their captain who has three years remaining on a deal that carries a cap hit of $8.5 million.

While the rumors certainly existed in recent year, it seemed likely they would die down now given the fact that the Lightning just won their second Stanley Cup in as many years. However, that appears not to be the case, as it is being reported they just may be considering moving Stamkos once again.

According to Darren Dreger, who was speaking on TSN1050 Monday morning, there have been whispers regarding the future of Stamkos in Tampa. Interestingly enough, head coach Jon Cooper mentioned after their second Stanley Cup win that a big motivating factor for them was the fact that their group would likely see some significant changes this offseason, though not many thought of Stamkos at the time that was said.

While there is certainly no guarantee that the Lightning do move on from Stamkos, you could certainly understand general manager Julien BriseBois’ reasoning for doing so. Though he is still considered a core piece of their team, you’d be hard pressed to argue that he has more value than players like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, or Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Massive Trade Value

Simply put, Stamkos isn’t the 60-goal scorer he once was. Injuries have slowed him down some, but that doesn’t mean if put on the trade market he’d receive little interest. The 31-year-old is still a terrific player, and showed that this season with 17 goals and 34 points in 38 games, along with another 18 points in 23 playoff contests. Just one season prior he was even better with 29 goals and 66 points in 57 games, proving just how dominant he can still be.

Perhaps the most difficult reason for trading Stamkos is just how much he means to the organization. He has been with them since being selected first overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and has done everything they could have possibly hoped for. In 841 career games he has scored a very impressive 439 goals and 866 points. Not only has he turned out to be a brilliant player, but he has become a big time fan favorite.

Despite that however, if BriseBois wants to keep his team as competitive as possible, moving Stamkos out to make things work with the salary cap is an option he will certainly have to consider. It should be a very interesting offseason for the Lightning.

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