While the trade speculation hasn’t hit the Stammergeddon levels of 2016, there had been some minor talk that, if the Tampa Bay Lightning fell out of the playoff race, pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos could be on the move. In his mid-season address to the media, general manager Julien BriseBois unequivocally squashed those rumors.
“Steven Stamkos isn’t getting traded. You can all write that. Steven Stamkos is not getting traded, so we can put that one to bed. If anyone was speculating on that, that’s not going to change between now and the deadline under any circumstances.”
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In a perfect world he would have followed that up by announcing a four-year, team-friendly contract extension for Stamkos, alas all we got was a reiteration of what Mr. BriseBois said at the beginning of the season,
“Like I said all along, after the season, we’re gonna sit down and we’re gonna evaluate where we are as a team and where Steven is, and we’ll see how we can make all the parts work together.”
So, that pretty much settles all of the Steven Stamkos talk for the next few months. The Captain is here, and even if the Lightning crater and burn over the next few weeks, he’s not going anywhere and will finish out this season as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Coming off of a two-goal, one-assist performance against the Anaheim Ducks, it’s been another solid season for Stamkos who has 18 goals and 23 assists through 41 games played. The 33-year-old has ping-ponged between the first and second lines this season and that may be part of the reason his production at 5v5 isn’t up to his usual lofty standards. According to Natural Stat Trick he’s at 1.48 points/60 at 5v5, which would be the lowest mark of his career if it continues.
Part of that is that he’s getting his shots blocked at a bit higher rate than normal. He’s taking more shot attempts (13.04 CF/60 is his highest since 2019-20) but his actual shots on net (6.15/60) is the lowest of his career. Throughout his time in the league, Stamkos had proven adept at being able to find openings for his shots, so there may be some adjustments down the stretch that allows him to get a few more shots through over the second half of the season.
While he has been merely just really good at 5v5, he’s been enjoying one of his best seasons on the power play. His 9 goals trails only Nikita Kucherov for most on the team. With Kuch shooting the puck (and scoring) more often, Stamkos has seen a bump in his power play assists with a career-high 5.83/60 with the extra skater. Even with that number, he’s still creating his own opportunities with a 2.89 ixG on the power play, also a career-high.
It would have been fun to speculate on what kind of return Stamkos would have fetched on the trade market, but removing any doubt about his status with the team for the rest of the season is more important for the team’s playoff hopes. As much as players might say that contract issues or trade speculation doesn’t affect their performance, they are humans and reading or hearing about those things every day has to weigh on them.
The bold support of his captain is also an indication that Mr. BriseBois has confidence in this team and will not be entertaining a sell-off of assets anytime soon. He indicated that he’s taking a similar approach to the trade deadline as he has in past years, which is basically exploring any opportunity to improve the roster for a Stanley Cup run.
