Steven Stamkos is closing in on becoming an unrestricted free agent, and on Saturday, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said he does not expect an agreement with the team's captain before Monday.
"As of now, we've both agreed to go to July 1," BriseBois said.
Stamkos' agent, Don Meehan, had said as much last week, telling TSN's Pierre LeBrun, "He will be a free agent on July 1."
Stamkos was chosen with the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft and was named captain March 6, 2014. He has been a member of the Lightning for the entirety of his 16-season career, playing 1,082 games and scoring 1,137 points (555 goals, 582 assists), including 81 points (40 goals, 41 assists) in 79 games this season.
The 34-year-old is Tampa Bay's all-time leader in games played, goals, points, even-strength goals (336), even-strength points (707), power-play goals (214), power-play points (422), overtime goals (13), game-winning goals (85) and shots (3,332).
Stamkos won the Stanley Cup twice with the Lightning, in 2020 and 2021, and has 101 points (50 goals, 51 assists) in 128 playoff games.
“I think if you’ve listened to my comments before you know when the season was going on you know how I feel about him," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. "This is a process. I know this is a big weekend for management and players and the kids getting drafted. Honestly, I wouldn’t be here if this [4 Nations press conference] wasn’t going on. So I’m actually representing our country probably not as much the Tampa Bay Lightning. But every team and players in this situation, this stuff happens but I’ll leave that to Steven and Julien.”
Faced with the question of what losing Stamkos to free agency might look like, BriseBois said, “At this point, it’s premature to start answering those types of questions. If we get to that point, we’ll address it at that time.”
The Lightning are facing an NHL salary cap crunch for next season, which could lead to the end of Stamkos’ long and successful tenure with the only team he’s played for.
Asked whether the Lightning would be able to sign Stamkos without any corresponding moves, BriseBois said, “The honest answer is I don’t know. I don’t want to comment further. I don’t think it would add anything right now.
“Like I said, both sides are still interested in getting a deal done. We met as recently as yesterday with his agents. But as of now, we haven’t been able get a deal done and I don’t know if we will be able to reach an agreement.”
This is the second time Stamkos has gotten close to free agency without a contract. In 2016, he signed an eight-year, $68 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) two days before the start of free agency.
Stamkos had wanted to re-sign with the Lightning last summer, expressing frustration in training camp that the sides had not found common ground heading into the 2023-24 season.
"To be honest, I’ve been disappointed in the lack of talk in that regard,” Stamkos said on Sept. 20. “It was something that I expressed at the end of last year, that I wanted to get something done before training camp started. There haven’t been any conversations.
"I stated at the end of last year, too, I would love to extend and play here and finish out my career here, but that's out of my hands. I can't write the contract myself."
The sides sat down again after the Lightning were eliminated in the Eastern Conference First Round in five games by the Florida Panthers, with BriseBois calling signing Stamkos “obviously a priority” and saying that he was hopeful it would get done.
If the Lightning are not able to sign Stamkos, they will need to change course. Losing a 40-goal scorer would have a significant impact on their top six.
“We are working on different plans with different variable possible trade scenarios, possible free agent signings,” BriseBois said. “It’s not just about filling one hole, it’s about building the best team possible. So we’re looking at it more from a holistic approach and trying to build the best team possible to be as competitive as possible next season and in future years.”
BriseBois acknowledged that the Lightning struggled to keep opponents from scoring this season, while the offense finished fifth in the NHL in goals for per game at 3.51. They also had the top power play at 28.6 percent.
“Our biggest issue was keeping the puck out of our net,” BriseBois said. “I think we were 22nd in goals against (allowing 3.26 goals per game) and it’s really hard to win a championship if you’re 22nd in goals against.
“That’s been the focus is how do we get back to being a top-10 defensive team and then how do we best manage the pieces of this puzzle to do that?”
The Lightning already made a move to shore up their defense, re-acquiring defenseman Ryan McDonagh in a trade with the Nashville Predators on May 21. McDonagh spent the past two seasons with the Predators after spending four-plus seasons with the Lightning.
At the time of the trade, the Lightning said that his salary (two years remaining at $6.75 million per season) would not impact their ability to sign Stamkos, but the Lightning are expected to have a little more than $5 million in cap space heading into next season.
As free agency approaches, Stamkos is not the only player who the Lightning are talking to about a new contract. Defenseman Victor Hedman has one year remaining on his eight-year, $63 million contract ($7.85 AAV) that he signed on July 1, 2016. Hedman had 76 points (13 goals, 63 assists) in 78 games this season, playing 24:48 per game.
“We’ve had discussions with Victor’s agents about an extension,” BriseBois said. “In his case, we have more runway before we have to get a deal done, as he still has one year left on his current agreement. That being said, the plan remains to be in a position to announce an agreement on a new contract for Victor in the coming days.”
