Should Tampa owe it to Stamkos to keep him?

[@TSN_Sports]

Where would you want to see Stamkos finish his career?

[@Habsfan_Nick]

montreal? i think he'll end up either chicago or detroit tho

[@CupContender]

Toronto

[@user-yg1dg6xm2g]

If you don't trade away declining players while they still have value, your rebuild will last longer and be more painful.

[@yoljuma4431]

True but who do they get in return no teams gonna move anything great to get an aging player like him the value isn't there and they don't wanna be Vegas with fluery and get nothing in return or worse a johnny T situation where he leaves in free agency for nothing. plus bringing someone in on stammers level will cost more than stammer since he's lived there for years and probably will take a more team friendly deal cause who he is and his family being there

[@timschultes6467]

I disagree with him on this. As a Tampa fan and Stamkos fan I’d understand if he wasn’t productive on the ice but the guy is still putting up 40+ goals a season. Not only does he score but he’s a leader on and off the ice you can’t replace leadership like his. If it were me I’d find a way to keep him here until the end.

[@frozenpoopy]

I'm a tampa fan too but realistically stamkos more than likely will not hold up more than 2 to 3 years. I don't want tampa to end up like Pittsburgh because of nostalgia.

[@PatDK]

That title sounds like someone needs to go back to school. Stamkos was a ppg player this season and 41 goals ffs get rid of stammer and then replace him with who? You aren’t going to get a better deal than him…. and on top of that if they don’t get anything for him, then you have to replace 40 goals, that was on a discount contract and hou have no assets coming in for him. I think this is the beginning of the end of the Lightning if they let him walk

[@underpant]

He was a PPG player and scored 41 goals because of Kuch. I've watched nearly every game of Stammer's career, he's my favorite all time player, and he's one of two Lightning jerseys I own. He was a huge liability at 5v5 last year. I would've loved to keep him for $4-$5 mil, but 8 million is absurd. I'm happy for him, he's getting way overpaid. His production has already been replaced by Guentzle, and JBB still has more money to play with.

[@ethanparker7900]

@@underpant only one bad season 5 on 5 doesn't define a mans career since prior to last season, his 5v5 play was a non issue and while we shouldn't downplay anyone, I will say that kuch wouldn't be who he is today if it wasn't for stammer. And if this was the plan all along, JBB could've done a better job at handling it and communicating both with him and to the public about it. If kuch hadn't spent the first 11 years of his career and 9 of them as stamkos' number 1 sidekick, who knows what he'd look like as a player or even if he'd be in the nhl at all cause when they drafted stammer in 2008, they made it their mission to build around him and that is where guys like kuch came in for a strong supporting cast.

[@deadrizen]

Tampa doesn't want their cap situation to look like Toronto's lol

[@BRIANDER100]

then why did they bring back mcdonaugh ?

[@that_guy0_0]

Defense was awful without him. Better to keep the puck out of your net and have more cap space than pay Stammer what he wants. It sucks but it's the right decision

[@Dpnak11]

Toronto Maple Leafs

[@BRIANDER100]

maybe they would still have draft picks if they didn't the tanner jeannot trade.....one of the worst trades ever

[@jimjohnson9808]

Like to see Stamkos in Detroit with his old boss.

[@ryankipnis6230]

Yes

[@Joelong579]

You talk like stammer didn’t just have an amazing season and we just freed up more cap space

[@GoBlue-iv2tu]

Stammer going to DET ❤

[@camerongerlich8929]

I love Stamkos on the Bolts, but his skill level at age 35 is NOT worth 4-5 mil per year. Half of his points this year came on the PP where he benefits alot from Kuch and Hedman. The Bolts need to improve with even strength play and Stamkos is on the decline at this point of his career in that aspect. My only question is how much do you pay a guy for experience and leadership? He seems to be a class act, but nobody outside of this organization can truly gauge how important he is as a captain. Back to the PPP......you can't rely on power plays. There are less powerplays in playoffs. We need younger and more versatile players to fill his void

[@ethanparker7900]

$4-5 milion would've been pretty reasonable and the pp argument is so recency biased cause prior to lat yr his 5v5 play wasn't an issue. Also kuch and heddy wouldn't be as good as they have been if it wasn't for stammer. Heddy even said himself, he changed my career and life over the summer. I understand if they wanted to go younger but they could've done a better job at presenting it and communicating it

[@camerongerlich8929]

​@@ethanparker7900 Sure, he did good before last season in 5v5 and he is a natural leader, so of course he makes others better. But looking ahead 4 years, his production will almost certainly decline. You can either pay someone for what they did or what they will do going forward

[@ethanparker7900]

@@camerongerlich8929 well the thing is he may not be the alpha dog he was in the 2010s but he's still going strong and there's still 74 more games left

[@ethanparker7900]

@@camerongerlich8929 the only reason why i say that too is cause of the stupid "power play merchant" comments from people who only started watching last year