(Tampa) Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos will remain with the Tampa Bay Lightning at least until the end of the season.
This is what the general director of the club, Julien BriseBois, indicated on Tuesday. Stamkos will not be traded until the March 8 trade deadline.
“I know we are approaching the deadline,” said BriseBois. A popular and interesting topic is who will be traded [et] which will not be. Steven Stamkos will not be traded. We can rule it out.
“If anyone were to speculate on that, there’s no way it’s going to change by the deadline. »
Stamkos, who will celebrate his 34th birthday next month, is playing the last season of his eight-year contract, the annual impact of which on the payroll is 8.5 million.
BriseBois said at the start of training camp that he would not discuss an extension with his captain during the season and the plan has not changed.
“I always said after this season we were going to sit down and evaluate where we are as a team and where Steven is,” BriseBois said. We’ll see how we can put the pieces together. »
Stamkos was selected by the Lightning with the first overall pick in the 2008 National Hockey League draft. He is 35e in the history of the circuit with 533 goals. He totaled 1097 points in 1044 games in 16 seasons. He helped the Florida team win two consecutive Stanley Cups, in 2020 and 2021.
This season, Stamkos has 18 goals and 41 games in 41 outings, but shows a differential of -20.