Report: Lightning made an offer to Stamkos.

The Tampa Bay Lightning recently made an offer to forward Steven Stamkos.

According to Elliot Friedman on the "Headlines" segment, Steve Yzerman the offer was around $8.5M and was made around the last few days. Stamkos is playing his last few months remaining on his contract that's paying him $7.5M .

Friedman mentioned last week that it was nothing more than a starting point to gage Stamkos' demands:

Obviously, it was not accepted, but it would be wrong to use the word "rejected."

My sense is it's a negotiation point, an attempt to see where everyone stands.

Although Steve Yzerman's priority is clearly to extend Steven Stamkos, the general manager says that he is in no rush and wants the best deal done. The Lightning who is currently right up the cap just ended a 7 game wining streak.

[pub]