Before Tampa Bay opened its restart training camp following the NHL Pause, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois announced Stamkos suffered a new, lower-body injury prior to the restart and wouldn't be a full participant on the first day of camp. Stamkos skated on his own between sessions to begin camp and by the end of the two weeks was skating with the callups on the restart roster.
The team was hopeful he would be able to get into one of the Round Robin games before the elimination rounds of the playoffs. But before Tampa Bay's final Round Robin contest against Philadelphia, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper announced Stamkos was out "indefinitely."
Updates on Stamkos' status throughout the playoffs have been few and far between. On September 14 before Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, however, Cooper announced Stamkos had been skating with his teammates periodically throughout the postseason. He's remained a regular participant in team practice and morning skate sessions since, and Cooper said Stamkos was "inching closer" Wednesday when asked if the superstar forward might be available.
Stamkos finished the regular season with 29 goals and 66 points, both totals second best on the Bolts behind Nikita Kucherov.
He led the Lightning for power-play goals in 2019-20 and could inject life into a power play that's been hit or miss for Tampa Bay in the playoffs. The Bolts have only registered a power-play goal in seven of 21 postseason contests but have netted multiple power-play goals in three of those contests.
Stamkos has skated in 70 career playoff games throughout his 12 seasons in the NHL and is Tampa Bay's all-time leading power-play goal scorer (11 PPGs) in the postseason.
He's played in the Stanley Cup Final once previously, that coming in 2015 when the Lightning fell in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Cup Final. Stamkos registered one assist in that series.
