Tag: Tampa Bay Lightning

Steven Stamkos’ 3 best free agent landing spots (Nashville!) as he prepares to leave the Lightning

Where will Stamkos land as he becomes an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career?

It sure looks like Tampa Bay Lightning captain and superstar Steven Stamkos is headed to unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career on Monday.

According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the 34-year-old isn’t close to signing a deal to remain with the only team he’s ever known with Stamkos’ agent Don Meehan texting LeBrun “He will be a free agent on July 1″.

Stammer played 79 games last season, scoring at least 40 goals for the seventh time in his career to go along with 41 assists. There are plenty of teams who would love that kind of production, even if the center eats up 10 percent of a roster’s cap space.

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn projects Stamkos will cost interested suitors an AAV of $8.9 million. So which teams can afford him? Let’s break down Stammer’s most-likely landing spot.

All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (+110)

Ok, listen. Until he’s not a member of the Lightning, I have a hard time imaging Stamkos anywhere else. He’s a future Hall of Famer and helped bring two Stanley Cups back to Tampa Bay. It’s tough to let that walk out the door.

The Bolts enter this offseason with a projected $5.3 million in cap space per CapFriendly, but let’s not put it past GM Julien BriseBois to get creative to keep his captain.

2. Detroit Red Wings (+400)

Whether or not this was part of the Yzerplan all along kind of feels irrelevant. Detroit has plenty of cap space and a fan base desperate to return to the playoffs for the first time in nine years after snapping a streak of 25 consecutive postseason appearances.

Per CapFriendly, the Wings will have a projected $32.7 million available this offseason as it figures out what to do with UFA’s including Patrick Kane, David Perron, James Reimer and Shayne Gostisbehere  — not to mention RFA’s Joseph Veleno and Lucas Raymond.

It’s easy to imagine Stamkos feeding Alex DeBrincat on a top line, it’s just a matter of what Steve Yzerman thinks this team’s ceiling is over the next few years as Stammer gets older.

3. Nashville Predators (+700)

The Predators averaged the 10th-best goals for per game last season (3.24) and the 16th-best power play (21.6 percent). Stamkos would be an instant improvement to both numbers while putting the forward in an extremely-winnable Central Division.

Nashville is expected to have $26.3 million in cap space as Anthony Beauvillier, Jason Zucker, Tyson Barrie and Alexandre Carrier become UFAs. That’s more than enough to get Stamkos to the Music City.

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WATCH: Baker Mayfield narrates epic Tampa Bay Lightning playoff hype video

Check out this awesome hype video for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s latest playoff run, narrated by Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield

The Tampa Bay Lightning are back where they usually are, heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with hopes of lifting the legendary trophy for the fourth time in franchise history.

After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, the Bolts fell just short two years ago, and were bounced from the first round last season. While many wonder if this is the end of their dynasty, the team has reloaded with hopes of proving the doubters wrong.

Somebody else that knows a thing or two about doing silencing the doubters? Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who narrated this epic hype video for the Bolts’ upcoming playoff run:

Yeah, I’m gonna need a wall to run through.

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Austin Watson deserves an NHL suspension for nailing Jeremy Lauzon with a reckless, pointless slap shot

This was so reckless.

I don’t honestly know if you can point to motive when it comes to a slap shot in hockey that could be aimed at a player. The point is usually to hit the puck as hard as you can so that it gets through traffic and past a netminder.

But in this example? It feels like an exception.

At the end of the Nashville Predators’ 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the clock was ticking down. The Lightning’s Austin Watson reared back and hit a slapshot from his own zone … and it nailed the Preds’ Jeremy Lauzon. The defenseman went down, looked hurt and was furious, while his teammates went after Watson, and rightfully so.

Why would Watson hit that kind of slapper when the game was well out of hand? And with Lauzon right in front of him?!

Writer Alex Daugherty said he heard Watson tried to visit Lauzon to see if he was OK. And Predators head coach Andrew Brunette was mad for good reason:

Maybe motive isn’t the point and perhaps it wasn’t aimed at Lauzon. But like with high sticking, you’re responsible for your actions whether they were deliberate or not. There’s no place for this.

The NHL needs to suspend Watson for this to make a point: If a game is out of hand and the clock is ticking down, a simple lifting of the puck into the air will do just fine.

The radio call of John Tavares’ game-winning goal for the Maple Leafs will give you goosebumps

The radio call for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ seismic series win on Saturday is everything.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made history on Saturday night as the team advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Leafs forward John Tavares knocked in the series-winning goal in overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road, which naturally sent the Toronto bench and players into a celebratory frenzy.

It’s just the best thing in the world to see a long-suffering team like the Maple Leafs finally get over the playoff hump after such a drought. The call on Maple Leafs radio exclaimed those extremely joyous feelings as good as anyone.

Like, how can you not love that? The thrill of hard-fought victory is exciting enough in the playoffs of any sport, but this radio call sums up the nearly two decades it’s taken for the Maple Leafs to get back into hockey’s good graces.

While Toronto still has a formidable road ahead of it to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, the Leafs are going to soak in this franchise-altering series win for quite some time.

NHL referees missed a blatant high stick on Brandon Hagel and the Lightning were furious

Brandon Hagel and the Lightning had every right to be mad here.

Officiating in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been rocky, to say the least.

As the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate their first playoff series victory in 19 seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning are headed home early from the postseason for the first time in a long time. The series was an incredibly close one, and it took overtime to decide Saturday night’s Game 6 after a tightly-contested game.

Before overtime began, however, there was quite a bit of officiating controversy after a pretty big missed call. In the dying seconds of the third period, with the score tied 1-1, Brandon Hagel was clipped with a high stick from T. J. Brodie while racing for the puck down the middle of the ice.

Hagel came up clutching his face, but no call was made. After the period ended, Hagel and the Lightning were seething over the non-call, which would have put Tampa Bay on a power play for nearly a full two minutes to start overtime.

Talk about a rough way to end the season. Who knows if the Lightning would have scored to force a Game 7 if Brodie was called for a high stick, but it’s just another example of the inconsistent officiating in these playoffs.

Here’s how fans reacted to the non-call high stick on Hagel.

A Leafs fan absolutely losing his mind with joy after Toronto’s stunning 4-1 comeback was so relatable

He was so happy, he literally couldn’t contain himself!

After years of torment, the Toronto Maple Leafs look like they’re finally exorcising their playoff demons.

On the road Monday night, Toronto fell behind 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It eventually came back to win the game 5-4 in overtime to take a 3-1 series lead. And everyone referenced the same famous Maple Leafs’ playoff collapse nearly a decade ago to the Boston Bruins.

After the game, a fan near the ice was caught on video trying (emphasis: trying) to have a conversation on the phone. There was just one problem. He was too overwhelmed with joy about the Maple Leafs’ comeback to do anything but seemingly scream at the top of his lungs.

It was such a relatable moment for anyone who’s seen their team win like this in stunning fashion.

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Toronto is now one win away from its first playoff series win in almost two decades. Call it a hunch, but this fan won’t be the only one overcome with happiness if the Maple Leafs finally get to the second round.

Auston Matthews instigated his first NHL fight with Steven Stamkos during tense Leafs win

This was such a shocking brawl, even if it was a tight playoff game.

Usually, when you think about Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos, you think of the two forwards scoring electric goals. During the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime win on Saturday night over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the pair made headlines for a different reason.

They got into a fight that set off an all-out brawl in the early parts of the third period. For two players of this kind of offensive talent, it was a little jarring to see. Normally, a fight is started by a fourth-line “gritty” player trying to spark their team to a rally.

Not two of the best players on the ice, period.

Beyond how shocking it is to see Matthews and Stamkos fighting, their little battle made NHL history. They are the first two players in NHL history to each have a 60-goal season on their resume and duke it out.

Per ESPN, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe had a different opinion of the entire sequence.

“The fight, itself, that’s a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation, right.”

If Keefe was upset about the brawl, at least he and Matthews took home the most important result: A win and a 2-1 series lead.

Leafs fans latched onto Chris Chelios ripping the refs but it’s just another excuse for falling flat

The officials aren’t to blame for another disastrous playoff start.

Another spring is here, and the Toronto Maple Leafs already look “poised” for another disappointing postseason showing.

After taking their lumps in the form of a 7-3 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 — thoroughly demoralizing their hometown fans — the Leafs would do well to do some soul-searching before this first-round series gets away from them.

Blaming the officiating, no matter how horrible, but it’s just an excuse for what is Toronto precedent in the playoffs by now. This sentiment holds true even if it’s a legend like Chris Chelios — who analyzed the game in ESPN’s studio — ripping awful work by the referees.

Was there a massive disparity in calls? Sure. Tampa Bay had eight power play opportunities to Toronto’s four, and the Lightning scored on four of those chances.

But the Leafs were clearly on their heels from the jump. The Leafs were the ones who, as usual, were pressing. A 3-0 early deficit is more in line with how Toronto has approached the postseason meekly than it is the officiating favoring the Lightning outright.

It’s a poor way of rationalizing the Leafs laying a giant egg. And if any of the players latch onto this thought process themselves, then Toronto will likely have no chance of battling back and finally advancing to the second round for the first time in almost two decades.

It’s the oldest excuse in the book.

Video shows dejected Leafs fans 30 minutes into another disastrous playoff start

This was so brutal to watch. These fans have been through so much.

The Toronto Maple Leafs entered their first-round playoff series, hoping to finally advance a round for the first time since 2004. Instead, in their seventh straight postseason berth, the Leafs gave their hometown fans more of the same:

A giant dud at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Before Toronto could even catch its breath, the Lightning had a 2-0 lead just about seven minutes into Game 1. By the end of the period, Tampa Bay held a 3-0 margin. In an eventual 7-3 blowout loss, Leafs fans were, predictably, not taking this well.

Thirty minutes into what was supposed to be the start of a fun spring, Leafs fans inside and outside of Toronto’s home arena were sitting in stunned silence. I would imagine it was much of the same for any folks watching at home:

This series is far from over, and the Leafs are probably still the better team on paper. But with the way Toronto lost Game 1, it’s seemingly already following a familiar, disappointing playoff script.

Leafs fans know the deal better than anyone.

Nashville’s sky-high trade haul from Tampa Bay for Tanner Jeannot stunned the NHL world

This was A LOT for an unproven player.

With the NHL trade deadline on the way, the Nashville Predators are raking in the draft picks after sending young forward Tanner Jeannot to the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Check out Mary Clarke’s comprehensive tracker on many of the deals coming through.)

With the Lightning trying to fortify its offense in a treacherous Eastern Conference, the team was willing to send the Preds a king’s ransom for adding Jeannot to the rotation.

After a standout rookie season in 2021-22, Jeannot had cooled a bit for Nashville leading up to his trade. He’s played in 56 games so far this season, notching five goals and nine assists. Jeannot has also posted a 5.7 percent shooting rate lately.

In exchange for Jeannot, Tampa Bay sent retiring general manager David Poile and Nashville a 2025 first-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick and young defenseman Cal Foote.

Lightning vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois defended the trade for Jeannot by assessing the risk of draft picks compared to the promise of a young player with experience.

While BriseBois has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt after leading his franchise to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, the hefty haul for Jeannot still earned some dropped jaws for NHL fans and beyond.

Although, if Tampa Bay pushes ahead in the Eastern Conference and Jeannot plays a big role, nobody will be doubting the price then.