When Steven Stamkos skated through Toronto this week, the talk about his expiring contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the possibility that he could sign with the Maple Leafs hit a fever pitch.
Back in Tampa, he looked to lower the thermometer a touch.
“Like I’ve always said, I envision myself winning a championship [in Tampa] and want to do that,” Stamkos told the Tampa Bay Times Saturday. “Obviously we got close last year, and I’m the captain of this team and I want to be that leader.”
A star of his calibre doesn’t typically go this long into a season where his contract is up without rampant speculation, and the rumours have been that he’s done with the Lightning.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Not even close. That’s why people say, ‘I’ve got a feeling. I think, speculate.’ There’s so much information out there that’s probably false.”
One other star conspicuously without a contract is Los Angeles Kings centre Anze Kopitar, though reports have said that negotiations are going well. Stamkos, meanwhile, might have wanted to get a deal done in the summer before the speculation could begin.
“That was obviously the hope, it hasn’t gotten done,” he said. “But there has been a lot of situations in the past where guys have signed later in the season and this isn’t the first time, even Kopitar is going through it this year. It’s not the first time someone in my position has been unsigned at this point in the season.”
While Kopitar is entrenched in his role and position with the Kings, Stamkos has shifted at times between centre and wing under head coach Jon Cooper. This in itself has caused some to suggest that there is a rift between player and coach.
“That’s false too,” Stamkos said. “That’s the thing. There’s been so many different articles written about Coop and I. How do they know what’s going on in the room? A lot of it is speculation, a lot of it is a story that needs something to make it seem legit. Why no one has had any concrete stuff is because there hasn’t been anything to talk about.
“I think obviously the people who know me and are close to the situation know what’s true and what’s not true.”
If a deal can’t be struck, GM Steve Yzerman may have to face the possibility of trading the franchise player, though Stamkos holds the cards with a no-move clause.
“When we cross that bridge, we’ll go over it then,” he said. “There’s still a lot of time before then. A lot of things can happen. It’s probably not something I can give an answer to right now. Still a couple months away.”
But we want to open our presents now…
