3 teams that could make a Steven Stamkos trade work

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The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t even reached out to Steven Stamkos to talk about his future with the team. They have no idea what he is willing to do in order to help the team remain competitive or anything like that.

It is a very bizarre situation and it makes you wonder if they are just done with him after this year. However, that might be really bad for Stamkos. Why would he want to play somewhere where he is no longer wanted?

Tampa Bay can claim they want him all they want but they are making their intentions pretty clear. He is going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he still has a lot left in the tank. If Tampa Bay wanted to retain their long-time captain, they would have by now.

Right now, Stamkos is dealing with a little bit of an injury but he will be back in short order. He is still going to have an elite season as we are used to seeing from Stamkos.

Steven Stamkos already saw Martin St. Louis get treated poorly on his way out of town before a handful of years with the New York Rangers. Now, it might be his turn to be traded ahead of his contract expiration. These three teams could make a trade for him work:

1. New York Rangers

The New York Rangers make sense for a Steven Stamkos trade this year.

The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning have made a ton of trades over the years. A lot of good players have been swapped back and forth between the two clubs. One of them, the aforementioned Martin St. Louis, was one of them.

If Steven Stamkos went to the New York Rangers, he would probably be a second-line center there. They could also make him a winger and just have a super elite group on the wings of the ice. On the power play, he’d be able to bring his amazing shot to the mix as well.

There is a chance that someone like Stamkos could bring them even more experience which might be what they need. He is a multi-time Stanley Cup champion and has been to the final a couple of other times.

He has gone through the Rangers in the playoffs too so he is very familiar with them. Now, they make sense as a team going for the Stanley Cup right now with only a few years left in their contention window.

Steven Stamkos #91, Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

2. Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres would be great with a player like Steven Stamkos right now.

Would the Tampa Bay Lightning trade Steven Stamkos to a team in their division? Honestly, why not? If they aren’t going to be a postseason team this year, which they still very much might be, they should move them to whoever gives them the best return.

If the Sabres miss out on someone like Patrick Kane, they might look in a different direction. They are a young team looking for some veteran leadership that has gone very deep into the payoffs.

Of course, kids like Tage Thompson, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Cozens, and Zach Benson could use a leader like Stamkos in the mix.

The Sabres have some cap space too so they would have to do a little less maneuvering in order to add a salary like Stamkos to the group for the rest of this year. They might also be willing to give him an extension so he can be their leader as an elder statesman over the next handful of years.

For a team looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011 (the longest drought in the NHL), a player like Stamkos would be great for them. After starting 0-2-0 as a team with high expectations, a big move sooner than later could really help.

Steven Stamkos #91, Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

3. Carolina Hurricanes

Steven Stamkos would make the Carolina Hurricanes even better right away.

The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the best teams in the NHL. They also have a little bit of cap space to work with and can do some things to make room for a guy like Stamkos. If the Lightning really did decide to trade him, Carolina would be perfect.

They have been in the Conference Finals a few times over the last handful of years and they didn’t win a single game in that series. A player like Stamkos, who has been a part of a lot of Conference Finals wins, might bring some good experience to that group.

The Hurricanes have one of the deepest groups in the league. They have a lot of high-end offensive players led by Sebastian Aho but they don’t have one of those super-elite guys. Everything on this team is done by committee. Well, Stamkos could change that.

He might not be the mega player that he was a few years ago but he would still probably step right in and be their best forward right away. They could use a guy like that.

Seeing Stamkos wearing any other sweater in the league would be wild. However, it is starting to feel more and more likely as time goes along. We’ll see what happens.

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