Free agency just got interesting in Toronto with latest Steven Stamkos update

Pending UFA and Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos still remains unsigned with the start of free agency set to take place on Monday.

Stamkos and the Lightning are coming off of a disappointing season, where they got bounced in the first round in 5 games by the eventual Stanley Cup winning Florida Panthers.

Stamkos, now 34, put up an impressive 40 goals and 41 assists in 79 games this season, while nabbing 5 goals and 6 points in 5 playoff games.

It seems that the Stamkos negotiations with Tampa have gone south, according to NHL Insider David Pagnotta.

It seems as though the long tenured Lightning captain is set to hit free agency July 1st. Stamkos is coming off of a bit of a sweetheart deal that paid him an AAV of $8.5M per season. The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently in a cap crunch as they have players like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Mikhail Sergachev and Andrei Vasilevskiy all signed to mega deals, which makes Stamkos seem like the odd one out here.

If the Toronto native does not sign with the Lightning, it's safe to say a plethora of teams would welcome the 2X Stanley Cup champion to their teams with open arms.

With Stamkos being a Markham, Ontario native, if he isn't going back to Tampa this summer, Toronto certainly makes a world of sense for him for a myriad of reasons.

Source for stats: HockeyDB
Steven Stamkos Stats