Tampa Bay Lightning reportedly made offer to Stamkos

Elliott Friedman reported on Hockey night in Canada that the Tampa Bay Lighting had apparently offer an 8 year contract to Steven Stamkos worth 68 Million dollars which averages out to 8.5M a season.

Stamkos will look to the 8 year 80 Million dollar contract that Anze Kopitar recently signed with the Kings as his comparison. Kopitar is a much more rounded player, but Stamkos is one of the most dangerous goal scorers in the league. He will become a free agent on July 1st and if the Lightning can't get him signed, there will be a lot of teams looking to break the bank to get Stamkos.

Stamkos hasn't had the greatest of seasons so far with 37 points in 48 games. He does already have 20 goals and can easily go on a tear. With all of the distractions this season with all of this contract talk, it can be easy to say that he has not had his mind completely on his play on the ice.

We will just have to wait and see if the Lighting can use this offer as a stepping stone to get their captain signed.

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