The long-time Lightning captain is reportedly going to market on July 1.
For some reason, the Tampa Bay Lightning are seemingly going to let their captain walk to free agency.
Steven Stamkos, two time Stanley Cup and Rocket Richard winner, is reportedly going to be hitting the market after he and the Bolts failed to reach an agreement on his next contract.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported that Stamkos' agent, Don Meehan, stated "He will be a free agent on July 1," in regards to Stamkos.
Even after clearing a ton of cap space by trading Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot, it seems that things still won't work out between the two.
"I met with Don Meehan again this morning following a trade," said Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois following the draft. "Don is Steven's agent. The plan is for Steven to test the free agent market. Our respective positions haven't changed following today's trades. I understand that when you get this close to free agency it can be tempting to see what the market has to offer to you. That was a risk I was taking when I didn't go to Steven a year earlier to try to lock him up and get a contract done and to be fair, I did tell Donnie today that I think it's in the best interest of our organization to explore all options in the coming days. Whether it be trades or by getting to free agency and seeing how we can use this cap space to improve the makeup of our team."
The 34-year-old sniper has played in Tampa Bay for the entirety of his 16-year NHL career, but it seems that the Lightning choosing to play hardball has forced him to the market.
Now he'll be a free agent and what a catch he would be.
Stamkos is one of the premier scorers in the entire NHL with a shot that is second only to that of Alex Ovechkin.
Over his 1,082 game career, Stamkos has scored 555 goals which is behind only Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby among active players.
And despite injury concerns a few seasons back, 'Stammer' reached the 40 goal mark last season for the second time in the last three years.
Even at 34, Stamkos has still got it and he's especially dangerous on the power play where he scored 19 goals this season
If Carolina is going to be losing multiple offensive players (Teuvo Teravainen is going to market, Martin Necas is actively being shopped and Jake Guentzel's status is up in the air), they need guys who can fill the net and Stamkos can still do that.
He may slow down as he continues to get older, but the Hurricanes need players to fill the gap until more of their top-end prospects develop and Stamkos could fit that need.
Stamkos may not fit the Canes' style of play per say, but you make exceptions for special players.
And a multi-time 40-goal scorer who's captained multiple Stanley Cup championship runs is certainly special.
