Julien Brisebois, GM of the Lightning, has made a statement regarding Steven Stamkos and his future in Tampa Bay.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are barely clinging onto the second wildcard position in the Eastern conference, it's safe to say their window for championship contention is beginning to close and their team will be looking toward the future and begin building up their prospect pool.
Their captain has been involved in several trade rumors since late last year, and his time in Central Florida may be coming to a close. However, their GM has now put these rumors to rest for the time being in his latest statement.
Brisebois confirms Stamkos future in Tampa Bay
"Steven Stamkos is not getting traded, so we can put that one to bed" said Julien Brisebois, "that is not going to change between now and the deadline under any circumstances".
The NHL trade deadline arrives on March 8, at 3PM EST. This is the absolute cutoff for all trades in the National Hockey League, meaning that Stamkos will enter the summer as an Unrestricted Free-Agent and could realistically sign with a different club for a significant sized contract.
His 8-year, $68 Million ($8.5M AAV) contract concludes at the end of the upcoming season. The smart move would be to move Stamkos before the trade deadline to a contender, and potentially maximize the return for him rather than letting him walk for free in July.
Stamkos, at 33-years-old, still remains one of the Lightning's key assets despite his elite goal scoring days being well behind him.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion has 18 goals, 41 points in 41 games with the Lightning in his 2023-24 campaign thus far.
Entering play Tuesday, Stamkos had 533 goals and 564 assists for 1,097 points in 1,044 career regular-season games to his credit.
Brisebois has confirmed that contract negotiations with Stamkos will not continue until the offseason.
