When it comes to Steven Stamkos, the drama that unfolded in the minutes prior to the official lineup being announced for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final may not compare to the off-season ahead.
Stamkos is a pending unrestricted free agent, at the end of his five-year, $37.5 million contract. His contract status has provided months of fodder, speculation and excitement about where he could go this summer.
At the age of 26, and one of the most prolific scorers in the league with 312 career goals and 36 this past season, an NHL team is going to have to doll out huge amounts of cash to land the talented forward -- the most prized free agent in the past four years -- if he decides not to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning and instead tests the open market.
But he’s also coming off a post-season in which he played only once after undergoing vascular surgery due to a blood clot. His health situation was publicly revealed at the beginning of April.
The challenge for the Lightning -- having made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and one win shy of the same feat this year -- and general manager Steve Yzerman goes beyond trying to reach a deal with Stamkos, though that could be a pricey endeavor as well.
There are numerous players on the Bolts roster that will need new contracts this summer or next. The list includes Victor Hedman, Ben Bishop, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn and Jonathan Drouin. And they’ll likely all be asking for raises, too.
Especially the 22-year-old Kucherov, who made $711,666 this season, is a restricted free agent this summer as per General Fanager, and had 11 goals and 19 points in 17 post-season games.
Yzerman: "The next two summers are going to define our team for the next 7 or 8 years. It's going to define the core of our team."
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 27, 2016
Just the realities of the salary cap, with a team loaded with talented players.
“It’s tough to build teams, it’s tough to keep teams together,” said Stamkos, as per the Tampa Bay Times. “Especially when you have so many great young players that are on entry level deals who are going to get a raise. There’s some tough decisions to be made, not only for this organization but for a lot of other organizations.
“I’m sure if both sides want it to work out, we’ll work something out.”