from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,

... it increasingly looks as though the Stamkos UFA sweepstakes will happen this summer.

If he truly doesn’t want to play for Cooper anymore, all he needs to do is wait. That will be a bitter pill for the Lightning – losing a 26-year-old franchise player they drafted first overall in 2008 for nothing – but it won’t catch them by surprise.

If you put any stock in the talk around the league, that’s now the most likely outcome. The only wild card is if Stamkos will allow Yzerman to recoup some sort of asset at the trade deadline by agreeing to be a rental player.

That would have to happen relatively quickly, as the deadline is Feb. 29 – only 78 days away.

It’s either that or broker a reconciliation between player and coach, finally ending a rift that’s been dragging what should be one of the NHL’s better teams down all year.

Either way, Yzerman is running out of time.

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