Trouble in paradise as Lightning captain Steven Stamkos airs his displeasure about his current situation
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is entering the final year of his 8-year contract without an extension. The Lightning have been extended their core players over the last few seasons but as we head into the 2023-24 season, Stamkos has yet to receive one, much to his disappointment.
The soon-to-be 34-year-old has spent his entire 15-year career with the Bolts after being drafted 1st overall all the way back in 2008. He has 515 goals and 1,056 points in 1,003 games. He dealt with his fair share of injuries a few years back but has remained healthy in the last 2 years, scoring 76 goals and 190 points in 162 games.
Stamkos has expressed his desire to remain in Tampa Bay for the rest of his career and would be okay with signing a contract extension during the season. However, he understands that it's out of his hands and that it takes two to tango.
Bolts GM Julien BriseBois addressed Stamkos' displeasure on Wednesday, pointing to the fact that the salary cap has not made keeping everyone easy. Obviously, we know that the Lightning were forced to move on from players like Ryan McDonagh, Ondrej Palat and Ross Colton, among others, to remain cap compliant.
To me, it almost sounds like BriseBois only has an interest in bringing Stamkos back if he can get him at a discount. When you consider the fact that Stamkos is 33 years old, that might not be a bad strategy for BriseBois and the Bolts.
The primary issue is that the Lightning are up against the salary cap and a lot of that has to do with their recent slew of extensions. Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak have 8 years remaining, Nick Paul has 6 years left, Brayden Point has 7 years left, and Brandon Hagel has 9 years to go. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 5 years remaining, Nikita Kucherov has 4, and Victor Hedman has 2. They're barely cap compliant right now and heading into the summer of 2024, they are set to have $12.385 million in cap even with the reported increase. The Bolts have 7 pending free agents coming up after this season and that $12.385M doesn't go a long way when split 7 ways.
It will be interesting to see how they play things out with their long-time captain and if they were to part ways - so to speak - and he were to become an unrestricted free agency, do they make a move at the trade deadline to recoup assets or roll in the playoffs for a final hurrah?
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 128 ANSWERS Trouble in paradise as Lightning captain Steven Stamkos airs his displeasure about his current situation Will Steven Stamkos be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning next season, or another cap casualty? | ||
| He'll be back | 43 | 33.6 % |
| He's gone | 85 | 66.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
