Stamkos

One word that has echoed through the streets of Philly for the last week.  I have been very hesitant to jump on board, but I finally will share my thoughts.

Before even writing, I DO NOT believe #91 will be in orange and black next year.  But the argument for him being "guaranteed" back in Tampa isn't how I see it.

My first concern is how he hasn't signed with Tampa yet.  We can put him in the same echelon as Ovechkin and Crosby for offensive production, and yet those two were signed 200-350 days before they even hit the RFA market.  And with Tampa saying they will "match any deal," you would think they would have offered Stamkos basically whatever deal he wanted.

So why hasn't he signed yet?  My belief is that he doesn't want to be in Tampa Bay.  Steve Yzerman is making a big deal stating that the Bolts will "match any deal" Stamkos is offered......Well just because they match it doesn't mean Stamkos has to accept their deal.  Could Yzerman and his "match" clause just be there to save his ass when Stamkos leaves Tampa, and make it look like Stamkos was the bad guy picking another city instead of Yzerman being the bad guy.

Next we have to look at the Salary issue.  While I am not fully involved and know the numbers in Tampa like I do in Philly, I know it is fact that the lightning entered the postseason with 36.5 million commited to 12 players.  You generally need about 23 guys signed, and with 30 million to spend...sounds easy.  But the guys they need to sign include some starters and goalies.  If Stamkos takes up 8-10 million a year of a hit....they have about 20 mil to spend on a dozen players.  They have already signed Roloson to a 1 year 3 million dollar deal, giving them even less cap space than before.

Basically the moral of that is, the Lightning are currently not in a salary position to match a super offer a team could throw at Stamkos with a lot more money avalable (to spend on a couple players instead of a dozen like Tampa)


Now since we talk Flyers here, I can give my pitch for the Fly Guys.

Flyers currently have around 8 million in cap space.  They can also trade Bobrovsky (1.7 mil), trade a guy like Shelly (1.1 mil).  If they do that and do not resign Leino; they do have the money for Stamkos if he's in the 8-10 million range.  Flyers historically always field a roster within 500k of the Salary Cap number.

However, I think it's more likley the Flyers sign a Brad Richards esque 20-30 goal scorer, along with a #3 or #4 defender that would play on the 2nd line.

Sadly I do not think Leino will be back in Philly.  I've heard that he was "a million dollars and a year" apart from what Philly wanted to pay him, and he will hit the free agency market.  And when he (along with every other 2-3rd line player) hits free agency, he will get overpaid by a team...and that offer will not be matched by the Flyers

BUT since we're talking about it....I think the chances of Stamkos back in Tampa are less than everyone else thinks.  If Stamkos were to come to Philly, It appears that he would be taking a discounted price (like Cliff Lee) to come here, since Florida and Toronto have a little more cap space to work with.  Those two teams have the option of making Stamkos the highest paid NHL player to date..if they so wish.

The next 24-48 hours will answer all our quesitons


(Flyers last EA Sport Cover Sport athlete, FYI)