Less than three weeks remain until NHL free agency, and the Tampa Bay Lightning and captain Steven Stamkos are still unable to reach a contract extension deal.
The Bolts fan base was worried about whether there would be enough cap room to bring back the captain as a result, but general manager Julien BriseBois reassured them that there would be.
The Lightning have been having cap issues for the past several years, and this is no secret. They now have a projected $5.335 million in space because Brent Seabrook’s contract is up and leaves the LTIR books.
The Lightning have four roster places available besides Stamkos’, even if this might seem like enough to sign the franchise player. They will need to send out a few components in order to re-sign Stamkos and complete the roster.
Tanner Jeannot, Erik Cernak, and Conor Sheary are a few names that spring to mind. Prioritising Stamkos’ re-signing before the start of free agency on July 1st is imperative for JBB.
Why should the team’s captain, who is forced to quit, get the short end of the stick?
He ought not to be. In Tampa, Stamkos has made his amends. He has been the team’s lifeblood, keeping the core together by accepting deals that benefit the group, and he just finished a 40-goal season to demonstrate his continued value as a goal scorer.
If they can’t figure anything out and let Stamkos retire Bolt, it would be a slap in the face for him.
The organisation and Stamkos have both stated that they want to work out a deal.
Indeed, Stamkos replied. “I’ve discussed it previously. My viewpoint hasn’t evolved. I do love it here, and I still believe that we have a chance to win with the set of players we have here, so I’m hopeful that everything works out here.
Since being selected with the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, Stamkos has been essential to this Lightning club. Stamkos, who is 34 years old, is scoring goals at a phenomenal clip, even with the Bolts’ poor play in the previous campaign.
During the 2023–24 regular season, he scored 40 goals and 81 points, demonstrating that he is still a goal scorer capable of 30 or more.
Despite all of the hardship he has experienced with major injuries, he scored 81 points in 79 games during the most recent season, marking his third consecutive season with at least one point per game and his 12th career total.
Stamkos sustained a broken tibia on November 11, 2013, which resulted in a lengthy absence. He missed the Olympics and forty-five games of the Lightning season before making his comeback to the starting lineup on March 6, 2014.
Following the departure of the former captain, Martin St. Louis, Stamkos was named captain before the game and has been leading the Lightning ever since.
In 37 games that season, Stamkos would score 40 points and 25 goals. Stamkos scored two goals and provided two assists in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, despite being thoroughly defeated by the Montreal Canadiens.
It will be difficult to replace his scorching one-time shot from the left side on the powerplay. A big setback to what has been an excellent first powerplay unit with shooting ability from all over the ice would result from losing that.
In terms of games played (1,082), goals scored (555), points (1,137), and powerplay goals (214), he leads the squad all-time. With 582 assists, he is only six behind St. Louis in the standings. Despite all of this, he is underappreciated for his leadership in the room and on the ice.
The Lightning need to hold onto his dedication to the team and the end result. The 2020 Stanley Cup Final’s third game versus the Dallas Stars will be remembered with great nostalgia by many fans.
The hockey world was shocked when the captain, who had undergone core muscle surgery seven months prior, was back in the starting lineup. Stamkos would only play for two minutes and forty-seven seconds in the first period.
But it wouldn’t happen without a significant event. Stamkos gave the Lighting a 2-0 lead with his first shot, ripping a top-shelf blast on the far side past Anton Khudobin.
The captain stayed on the bench the entire game to support the squad instead of going back to the locker room. It’s rare to see players acting that way.
It is intolerable to consider Stamkos wearing a jersey other than a Tampa Bay one, and it is not something that ought to occur.
He is an important member of this Lightning squad because of everything he has accomplished and the quality of play he is exhibiting for his age.
With Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, they can still be cup contenders.
Possible Moving Elements
Sheary signed a three-year, $6 million contract in the offseason before the 2023–24 season, and he is currently two years into it.
Sheary posted a dismal 15 points in 57 games, showing that he has not lived up to the deal he was handed. Fans have wondered what exactly his position on the squad is after a few of his games.
He has demonstrated that he can fight in the corners, but his efforts have not been successful since he struggles with his stick and skates, which makes it easy for opponents to steal the puck and get out of their zone.
The Lightning would have more flexibility to add Stamkos and depth players to keep the Bolts in the playoff picture if he traded his contract.
Jeannot’s name has been circulating on social media with the possibility of being traded, despite the lack of any hard evidence to support this.
Jeannot rejoined the Lightning in July 2023, but regrettably, the two years at $2.665 million AAV were not worth it. Jeannot had a difficult season.
He scored seven goals and fourteen points in 55 games after entering the squad. Despite his lack of goal-scoring experience, he has not looked good as a fourth-line grinder.
It hasn’t turned out to be a wise transaction for the Lightning to have traded Jeannot for such an absurd sum. Cal Foote, a conditional first-round pick in 2025, a second-round selection in the current draft, and third, fourth, and fifth-round selections in the 2023 draft were all forfeited by Tampa.
It proved to be overkill for a rental, as the Lightning would eventually lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ending their season.
Cernak is the more difficult of the three to decide whether to trade, but if they do, they will have to act quickly because on July 1st, his no-trade clause will become effective.
Being one of the few right-handed defenseman in the Lightning’s squad makes this one more challenging. They wouldn’t have to worry about losing him despite the fact that he is a top-four defenseman since McDonagh can take his place in that capacity.
Since signing with the Lightning for the 2018–19 campaign, Cernak has been a major contributor on the blue line. Cernak blocks shots and gets hard in the corners, putting his body on the line every time. Despite this, he has frequently missed time due to injury.
Although injuries are unavoidable, Cernak has missed an absurd amount of time from the lineup due to ailments. He has a substantial seven-year cap hit of $5.2 million, which the Lightning may be able to use to cover gaps.
