Another potential destination for Steven Stamkos revealed
Will the Lighting captain remain in Tampa Bay, or reunite with an old friend?
It's going to be one of the biggest storylines of the summer - what will Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos do?
Right now, he's set to become a free agent after completing his most recent contract extension that he inked in 2016, and he's made no secret about the fact that he's displeased over the lack of progress on an extension with the franchise that made him the 1st overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.
He'll have no shortage of suitors if he does indeed hit the open market, and one interesting possibility that he could consider would be to reunite with his former teammate Martin St. Louis, who is now the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Additionally, former teammate Vincent Lecavalier is part of the Habs' front office.
Analyst Eric Engels addressed the potential during a recent Q+A piece for Sportsnet, and indicated that while he realistically thinks that the Lightning are the only option for Stamkos, he could consider the Canadiens as another option.
Question: "Is Stamkos a realistic option for the Habs? And how important would the connection with St-Louis be for Stamkos?"
Answer: "Not really. But I don’t think he’ll be a realistic option for any team, aside from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Stamkos wants to retire as a member of that team, and they want to give him a chance to do that. I still think that’s the only realistic scenario at the moment.
But if things were to break down between Stamkos and the Lightning, I would say the connection to Martin St. Louis would be one of the only things that might have Stamkos even consider signing in Montreal.
Being guaranteed a spot next to Suzuki or Dach could help, too."
Stamkos has spent his entire career with the Lightning, but even long tenured players who were the faces of a franchise sometimes choose to relocate. Will Stamkos be playing elsewhere this fall, or will the two sides get a deal worked out for him to stay put?
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