Could Tampa Bay Lightning’s’ Steven Stamkos be headed out this offseason –NHL Special
There is no doubt of the fact that there have been very few players who have managed to achieve what Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos has at such a young age but with the way the team has been playing this season and the past few, could it be that their
top forward is looking to move on to better things?
Well, looking at his humongous five-year contract worth $37.5 million, Steven Stamkos is booked well through the 2015-2016 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, but pressurising his team is always a very real possibility.
For Tampa Bay, it certainly would not be easy letting go of their top performing player and practically the face of the organisation but Steven Stamkos has seen a lot with Lightning and has not been able to actually achieve his dream of holding the Stanley
Cup high above his shoulders.
All players who enter the league always have high hopes and dreams of bringing the cup back home but for Stamkos, the situation has been a little unfortunate. For starters, he was picked up by Tampa Bay as the first overall pick during round-one of the 2008
NHL Entry Draft and ever since then, Stamkos and the Lightning made the postseason only one time, which was last year.
Tampa Bay, despite being a team jam-packed with immense talent, failed to make the playoffs again this time, which was unfortunate as the same team was just one game away from the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2011.
Lightning lost to Boston Bruins in game-seven of the Eastern Conference Playoff Finals, which was a huge achievement, but have not played like that since. Being a player that has potted 90 plus points for the past three seasons, Stamkos certainly deserves
better, which could be one of his arguments in pursuing the team to trade him.
Stamkos, in a huge improvement and record making season, scored his first 60th regular season goal against Winning Jets in their last game of the regular season.
"What I like about Steven's accomplishments is he always makes it a team thing, and the players want to be part of it because of that," Tampa Bay head coach, Guy Boucher, said.
With a career best 97 point (60 goals, 37 assists) regular season, Stamkos has shown that he continues to improve while others fail to come up to that level.
"When he came into the league, everybody was so scared of his one-timer," Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis said, about Stamkos. "You start having success like that, they're going to start taking it away and it becomes harder and harder. You almost feel like
you have to reinvent yourself and find different ways to score goals, and he's done that."
If Steven Stamkos really does decide to call it his last season with Tampa Bay and talk his team into a trade, where could one of the league’s top forwards be heading?
Philadelphia Flyers was one of the teams on the top of the list to be the next for Stamkos but according to general manager, Paul Holmgren, they do not have any such plans at the moment but could think about it if an opportunity arises.
Obviously, no team in their right mind will openly discuss interest in the player at the moment but adjusting an $8 million a year contract into their salary cap is certainly hectic, but on the other hand, having a player like Steven Stamkos has its own
benefits.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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