‘I am very hopeful’: Lightning GM BriseBois on signing Steven Stamkos to new contract
A positive sign for one of the best players in the game, potentially staying with the one team he has ever known.
As the offseason begins for more teams across the NHL, many are wondering what the Tampa Bay Lightning will do with their captain, Steven Stamkos. The longtime Bolt does not have a contract for next season.
When speaking to the media on Wednesday, general manager Julien BriseBois explained that the team’s priority is to try to negotiate a deal with Stamkos. Briesbois mentioned he met with the 34-year-old shortly after the team returned from Tampa after being eliminated by the Florida Panthers on Monday night.
BriseBois says it's obviously a priority to see if the #Bolts can get a deal done with Stamkos.
"Obvioiusly Steven Stamkos needs a contract and we want him to be part of that group. You all saw how from the trade deadline on, Stammer elevated his play, which was incredible to…
“I briefly met with [Stamkos] when we landed after Game 5,” BriseBois said. “I spoke with his agent yesterday…I am very hopeful.”
Stamkos was arguably one of the best players on Tampa’s roster throughout the regular season and the playoffs. The Markham, Ontario native posted 40 goals for the sixth time in his 16-year NHL career. He finished third on the team in scoring with 81 points, and led the Lightning with five goals in their five-game series with the Panthers.
People from within the locker room clearly want Stamkos to stick around. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, shortly after the series concluded, said “He belongs here. We know it. He knows it.”
From what BriseBois stated on Wednesday, management feels the same way.
“Obviously, Steven Stamkos needs a contract, and we want him to be part of that group. You all saw how from the trade deadline on, Stammer elevated his play, which was incredible to see…The aim is for him to continue to play on a contending Tampa Bay Lightning team going forward.”
The former Sarnia Sting star is in the final year of an eight-year contract with a cap hit of $8.5 million. Stamkos has been with the team since they took him first overall in the 2008 NHL Draft.
He might go down as the greatest player in Lightning history. Stamkos captained the team to its Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021–despite playing just a few shifts in the bubble–and has the franchise record for goals (555) and points (1,137). He is just eight assists shy of breaking former Lightning Martin St. Louis record of 588.
BriseBois admits that Stamkos’ legacy is already etched in stone, but sees that he still has more to offer the team, based on how he performed late this season.
“For someone who you could say has already earned his Hall of Fame plaque,” BriseBois said. “Has accomplished so much already and has been accomplishing so much for so long, for him to play arguably the best two months of hockey of his career…for him to do that at the time when our team needed it most was incredible.”