With the Tampa Bay Lightning losing to the Florida Panthers in five games, there will be a lot of questions surrounding the future of Steven Stamkos with the Lightning.
Those questions already started once Game 5 ended.
Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper was asked about the conversations about Steven Stamkos’s future and whether he could imagine the captain wearing a jersey other than the Lightning colors.
“I don’t know if there will be much conversation. I hope not, anyway. He belongs here. We know it. He knows it,” Cooper said to the media following Game 5. “But, again, this is two seconds after a game. But he and I have grown up together. He’s a heck of a player. But he’s also, I suppose, in control of his own destiny. I don’t know what’s going to happen. He feels like a Bolt for life, but only he and Julien can answer that one.”
Steven Stamkos is in the final year of his contract with the Lightning. We know his remarks at the beginning of the season about not having conversations about a contract extension. Stamkos put up 81 points (40 goals and 41 assists) with the Lightning this season. He was one of three Lightning players, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, the other to hit the 40-goal mark.
General manager Julien BriseBois has to manage a tight salary cap. While the cap increases, he must manage how much he pays the captain. Though the belief is that Stamkos is staying, the two parties are working out the contract length and price. Recall that Stamkos did not re-sign with the Lightning until right before free agency opened last time. That could happen again.
Steven Stamkos was asked about the uncertainty of his future with the team and what was next for him as the clock wound down to close out Game 5.
“No. That never crossed my mind. I’m out there battling to try to help our team win regardless,” Stamkos said to the media following the Game 5 loss. “At the end of the game, we’re trying to score. There’s some pride on the line for our group, so no.”
You could not help but notice Stamkos stay out on the ice to take it all in after the handshake line as he waited for his teammates to finish. That is the definition of a leader. Again, there will be a lot of speculation surrounding this moment.
But the Lightning want him to be there. He wants to be there, and until somebody inside the organization says they can’t sign or he does not want to be there, who’s to say Steven Stamkos won’t remain a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning?
It will be an interesting off-season as Stamkos watch is on in Tampa.
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