Elliotte Friedman drops a bombshell and reveals that a trade for Captain Steven Stamkos is more likely than ever

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Elias Edmonson
December 11, 2023 (10:18)

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Among the big names who will become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, we find the name of Steven Stamkos.

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward is currently in the last year of a deal signed in the summer of 2016, which earns him $8 million annually, and it is being wondered if the time has not come within the organization to start thinking about a possible rebuild.

The Lightning are having a rather ordinary season so far and as reported by Raphaël Simard, from the site Danslescoulisses.com, negotiations between Julien Brisebois and the Stamkos camp are at a standstill.

To the point that it could very well be that the Lightning's general manager will be forced to trade his veteran at the trade deadline if the team is out of the playoff picture at that time.

These are at least the words held by Elliotte Friedman, a reputed insider from Sportsnet, during the broadcast of the podcast 32 Thoughts and he added that some teams could make a call to the Lightning's GM very soon.

EF (32TP): "What happens if Tampa is a bubble team and Stamkos isn't signed at the end of the season?"

Marek: "Well, that's what Julien BriseBois talked about at the beginning of the season, we need to see what the season is going to be like here"

EF: "Teams are going to call"

Even Julien Brisebois had mentioned this possibility before the start of the season and he was not closing the door to any eventuality.

«I need to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together this year.»

That said, the Lightning captain may be at another stage of his career, having won two Stanley Cups with the team that drafted him first overall in 2008, and he might eventually want to join another team.

There is still a lot of time before the trade deadline and the recent return to play of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy should ensure that the Lightning becomes one of the best teams in the Atlantic Division again.

But otherwise, there is no doubt that Stamkos would become very much in demand in the eyes of teams looking for reinforcements for the playoffs but it is a safe bet that the price to acquire him will certainly be very high.

Seeing Stammer in a different jersey will certainly look wrong.