3 Potential Landing Spots For Steven Stamkos

Heading into Saturday, all signs were pointing to Tampa Bay Lightning franchise icon Steven Stamkos heading to unrestricted free agency as of Monday. His agent texted insider Pierre LeBrun to confirm it.

Developments already today may be impacting the Stamkos situation, which leads us to this discussion of the 3 most likely landing spots for the 16-year veteran.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Yes, despite the events of the previous several days, this has taken a substantial turn with Saturday morning's trade of Mikhail Sergachev from the Bolts to Utah HC. Tampa clears $8.5 million off the books, which would be more than enough to keep Stamkos. Their last offer was less than $4 million per year, so we'll see if they now distribute those Sergachev funds to keep their longtime captain. There are some, however, who are speculating that Tampa cleared that space to make a run at Jake Guentzel, so this situation is still fluid.

Of course, aside from taking another run at Stamkos, Tampa could also be clearing the decks for a run at Jake Guentzel perhaps …
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 29, 2024

Detroit Red Wings

Insider Chris Johnson has recently suggested that the Red Wings will be a prime suitor for Stamkos on the open market. Their $32 million in cap space gives them plenty of opportunity to go for it. And Detroit head honcho Steve Yzerman, of course, was the general manager in Tampa who got Stamkos to stay with the Lightning the last time this situation came around in 2016.

Nashville Predators

With plenty of cap space (over $26 million) and a desire to give their offense a substantial boost, the Predators have been seen recently as a strong candidate to try to land Stamkos if he makes it to July 1st.

We should also keep our eye on one other team that's always lurking when a big-name player like this could be available, according to LeBrun: "I wonder if the Vegas Golden Knights would come calling if they can’t re-sign Jonathan Marchessault?