Stamkos denies recent rumours about leaving Tampa, Jon Cooper.

Steven Stamkos addressed the rumours surrounding his contract talks and his relationship with Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper.

The star forward spoke with the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday:

"Like I've always said, I envision myself winning a championship here and want to do that. Obviously we got close last year, and I'm the captain of this team and I want to be that leader."

Last week, Hockey Feed reported that multiple sources have argued that Stamkos wanted to leave Tampa, including TSN's Bob McKenzie, one of the most respected insider in the game.

Despite multiple signs or popular beliefs, Stamkos tried to denied these rumours:

"Not even close. That's why people say, 'I've got a feeling. I think, speculate, there's so much information out there that's probably false. Like the ones about my parents moving to Tampa (which Stamkos said is not true). That just comes with the territory."

Other sources have also mentioned that Jon Cooper's relationship with the Canadian star player would be at the worst state since he took over behind the bench, because he plays Stamkos on the wing instead of his natural position of center.

"That's false too," Stamkos said. "That's the thing. There's been so many different articles written about Coop and I. How do they know what's going on in the room? A lot of it is speculation, a lot of it is a story that needs something to make it seem legit, there needs to be a reason (he's still unsigned). Why no one has had any concrete stuff is because there hasn't been anything to talk about.”

Steven Stamkos has denied multiple times that his contract negotiations were not a distraction for him or his team, but statistics say otherwise. Stamkos is on pace for his worst production since his rookie year and Tampa Bay is two points out of the Wild Card race for a playoffs spot in the Eastern Conference.

Although he tries really hard, Stamkos is not convincing anybody when he repeats the same thing over and over again, winning a cup in Tampa, not being distracted by his contract talks and that his relationship with Jon Cooper is going really well. But he says what needs to be said, it's just not fooling anybody.