Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Different Opinions On The Future Of Steven Stamkos

05/28/2016 at 8:43am EDT

from Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Bay Times,

The season is over. Now there's only the door. And Stamkos walking through it. And his introductory news conference, in Toronto, Detroit, Buffalo or wherever.

It's just a question of when No. 91 walks through that door, be it July 1, when he can become an unrestricted free agent, or sometime after.

Feel free to surprise us with an eleventh-hour contract, guys.

It would be the salary cap upset of the century.

Let's not get all weepy here or turn this into an Adele song. Stamkos will make tens of millions of dollars no matter where he goes, and the Lightning will carry on.

It still feels like the end of something.

I think the Lightning is crazy for letting 312 goals and 26 years old walk. I think Stamkos, given the talents around him, is crazy to walk. No one is to blame. Everyone is to blame.

How did a deal not get done last summer? How?

read on

from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

Don’t go fitting Steven Stamkos for that Maple Leafs sweater just yet.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning captain has his way, apparently, it’s not going to happen.

Nothing against Toronto, which should take a big step forward in the rebuilding of the franchise when it’s expected the Leafs will pick Auston Matthews first overall at the National Hockey League draft in Buffalo next month.

Stamkos, a Markham native, couldn’t have made it more clear on Friday that he wants to remain with the Lightning, the team that made him the No. 1 pick in 2008. That would exclude the Leafs, the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens and any other club from having a crack at him in free agency come July 1.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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