TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Lightning team captain Steven Stamkos has done it all for the team, including leading them to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. But he couldn't hide his disappointment with the lack of action from the team's front office as training camp got underway Wednesday.
"It (a new contract) was something that I expressed at the end of last year that I wanted to get something done before training camp started," Stamkos said. "There haven't been any conversations."
Captain Steven Stamkos said that he's "been disappointed" that the team didn't discuss with him a contract extension over the summer. #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/3UqU14MrKQ
— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) September 20, 2023
Stamkos, 33, is in the final year of his contract with the Lightning. He's due to make a base salary of $1 million plus a $5.5 million signing bonus, according to Spotrac.com. Stamkos, who has played his entire career in Tampa, will have made more than $123 million by the time his contract runs out at the end of this season.
General manager Julien BriseBois' explained his decision to wait on offering Stamkos an extension at this time.
“I’ll have gathered that information, and then I’ll be in a better position to have a clearer picture of what our puzzle looks like going forward, what roster needs we might have and then how to allocate our cap space in order to build the best roster possible for — not only for Steven to remain with the Lightning, but for us to stay Stanley Cup contenders year in, year out for the remainder of his tenure with us and hopefully bring the Cup back to Tampa," BriseBois said.
For his part, Stamkos still appears ready to re-sign with the Lightning if or when a contract offer comes.
"I’m ready whenever, so, I guess that was something that I didn’t see coming, but it is what it is," Stamkos said.
