Steve Stamkos?

[Dappleganger]

If the team were going to be any good in the next 3-4 years I would agree, what I question is what the team would accomplish during the contract and what the cap limitations would be ie. who might have to go due to cap limits while he was here.   

If this team isn't better in 2 seasons, then something has gone wrong. We're not trying to replicate the Oilers here.

2 more losing seasons will give the Leafs 4 losing seasons with top draft picks. Better start turning the corner in season 3.

[Potvin29]

Work ethic from the top? Are you talking about this guy?

Man, I hope I'm in that good shape when I'm 46. Heck, I'm nowhere close to being in that shape now!

More TMLFans.ca should help.

[bustaheims]

Work ethic from the top? Are you talking about this guy?

Man, I hope I'm in that good shape when I'm 46. Heck, I'm nowhere close to being in that shape now!

More TMLFans.ca should help.

I guess you'd know a little about that.

[Tigger]

Signing Stamkos for 7 years at league-leading money is a no brainer. He'll still be productive at age 32. Most upper echelon players are still productive at that age. It would actually be a good age to get out of that type of contract.

It's a no brainer for a team in position to take advantage of more than the last couple seasons of that contract. It's not much use to a team that's going to waste the most productive years of it.

So, if you're GM next year and Stamkos is available for nothing but $$, do you sign him? I realize the timing may not be the best, but do you pass up that opportunity because it doesn't make sense in the short term? I'm not being argumentative, just curious.

That's a real good question. I think it would be pretty damn tempting to any gm to sign that player but I think it would be a toughie to work with the Leafs plan overall. Still, I'd like to be a fly on the wall if Shanahan said no.

[Potvin29]

Work ethic from the top? Are you talking about this guy?

Man, I hope I'm in that good shape when I'm 46. Heck, I'm nowhere close to being in that shape now!

More TMLFans.ca should help.

I guess you'd know a little about that.

You're lucky I can still barely reach my keyboard.

[herman]

Work ethic from the top? Are you talking about this guy?

Man, I hope I'm in that good shape when I'm 46. Heck, I'm nowhere close to being in that shape now!

More TMLFans.ca should help.

I guess you'd know a little about that.

You're lucky I can still barely reach my keyboard.

#TRexProblems

[bustaheims]

Work ethic from the top? Are you talking about this guy?

Man, I hope I'm in that good shape when I'm 46. Heck, I'm nowhere close to being in that shape now!

More TMLFans.ca should help.

I guess you'd know a little about that.

You're lucky I can still barely reach my keyboard.

Look at what you've become!

[azzurri63]

Stamkos unhappy? Cooper resigning? Moved to wing? Looks better for him signing here. Love to see it happen.

[Mr. Leaf]

Stamkos unhappy? Cooper resigning? Moved to wing? Looks better for him signing here. Love to see it happen.

I should know better than to get my hopes up about things like this, but damnit, they're up a little now.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Stamkos unhappy? Cooper resigning? Moved to wing? Looks better for him signing here. Love to see it happen.

I should know better than to get my hopes up about things like this, but damnit, they're up a little now.

What the hell, why not?  It's part of being a fan.

And truth be told there's more fire here than in the usual smoky UFA fantasizing. There seems to be some real friction down there.

[Nik]

Obviously Stamkos is a great player and getting him would be pretty exciting but I can't help but feel that at least part of what's driving the fact that he hasn't signed an extension is that he's looking to get paid based on the numbers he was putting up a couple years ago and that he hasn't been able to since.

Someone who's watching the Lightning more than I am might have a better handle on this and maybe his points/60 show it's just an ice time thing but if he's looking for a deal that makes him the highest paid player in the league in terms of AAV...are we 100% that's a good investment?

[wnc096]

Stamkos unhappy? Cooper resigning? Moved to wing? Looks better for him signing here. Love to see it happen.

Simmons: "Steven Stamkos still hasn’t signed in Tampa Bay, but the fact his parents have moved to the area has left a lot of people believing he will re-sign with the Lightning "

[CarltonTheBear]

Obviously Stamkos is a great player and getting him would be pretty exciting but I can't help but feel that at least part of what's driving the fact that he hasn't signed an extension is that he's looking to get paid based on the numbers he was putting up a couple years ago and that he hasn't been able to since.

He also wants to get paid based on the Toews/Kane contracts, which IIRC were signed during a time when everybody figured that the salary cap would be exploding upward, especially with the news Rogers deal. Mirtle wrote that he could see a $80mil cap as early as the 16/17 season, and even possibly a $100mil cap 5-6 years after that. All that talk though has been thrown out the window, or at least put on hold. So Chicago kind of jumped the gun with those deals, but it's still set the trend going forward for teams looking to re-sign their elite talent.

[CarltonTheBear]

Someone who's watching the Lightning more than I am might have a better handle on this and maybe his points/60 show it's just an ice time thing but if he's looking for a deal that makes him the highest paid player in the league in terms of AAV...are we 100% that's a good investment?

I don't know if it's the greatest excuse or not, but it's definitely not a coincidence that his point totals dropped right when Callahan replaced St. Louis on his right side.

[Nik]

Obviously Stamkos is a great player and getting him would be pretty exciting but I can't help but feel that at least part of what's driving the fact that he hasn't signed an extension is that he's looking to get paid based on the numbers he was putting up a couple years ago and that he hasn't been able to since.

He also wants to get paid based on the Toews/Kane contracts, which IIRC were signed during a time when everybody figured that the salary cap would be exploding upward, especially with the news Rogers deal. Mirtle wrote that he could see a $80mil cap as early as the 16/17 season, and even possibly a $100mil cap 5-6 years after that. All that talk though has been thrown out the window, or at least put on hold. So Chicago kind of jumped the gun with those deals, but it's still set the trend going forward for teams looking to re-sign their elite talent.

That's part of it but AAV's were always going to shoot up coming out of the lockout because of the changes to backdiving and limits on term. The only reason stars were happy with AAV's of 8 or 9 million was if they were actually making 10 or 12.