Steven Stamkos and his Tampa Bay Lightning were the second team eliminated from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs after an abysmal 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference best-of-7 series on Monday night. The Cats were just the better team throughout the series, proving that last year's cinderella march to the Stanley Cup Final was no fluke.
For the Bolts, it's back-to-back Round 1 exits after advancing to three consecutive championship series. And with captain Stamkos set to become an unrestricted free agent, that was on everyone's mind after the season-ending defeat at Amerant Bank Arena.
But the two-time Stanley Cup champion isn't ready to talk about the future.
“No, that never crossed my mind,” Stamkos said when asked about the fact he may have just played his last game as a member of the Lightning, per NHL.com's Bill Price. “I’m out there battling to try to help our team win regardless at the end of the game. We’re trying to score and there’s some pride on the line for our group, so no.”
Stamkos had another excellent 2023-24 campaign — his 16th season with the franchise — scoring 40 goals in 79 games and helping the Bolts advance to the postseason yet again. But after two early exits, the question must be asked: is this the end for the most effective core of the 2020s?
A critical offseason approaches for the Lightning
Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who has been with Stamkos for years, doesn't want to see the captain anywhere else but Tampa Bay.
“I don't know if there will be much conversation. I hope not, anyway. He belongs here. We know it. He knows it,” the bench boss said after Monday's loss, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. “He and I have grown up together. He's a heck of a player. He's in control of his own destiny. I don't know what's going to happen. He feels like a Bolt for life, but only he and [GM Julien BriseBois] can answer that one.”
The 34-year-old Stamkos doesn't know any other professional city but Tampa Bay, but it's going to be tough to get the star forward signed long-term considering the cap situation the team is in.
Still, he's one of the best players in franchise history, ranking first in goals (555), points (1,137), power-play goals (214), power-play points (422) and games played (1,082), per Price.
“We're going to sit down and we're going to evaluate where we are as a team and where Steven is,” BriseBois said back in January about the future of one of his most important players. “We will see how we can make all of the parts work together. At the end of the season, we'll take stock of where we are as a franchise, and we'll address future contracts for all of our players whose contracts are going to be up in due time.”
The Lightning were recently the class of the Eastern Conference, but after being beaten by the Leafs and Panthers in back-to-back years, it's clear that the team isn't quite as potent as years past.
There's no doubt that Tampa Bay will be back competing for a postseason berth in 2025. But will Steven Stamkos — the heart and soul of this organization — be part of that equation?
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