NHL notes: Steven Stamkos could be struck off by Lightning

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It has been a sweet 16 years for Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay, including two Stanley Cups, but his time in the Sunshine State could be running out.

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After a year of uncertainty where he and the club did not agree to a new deal, neither agent Don Meehan nor general manager Julien BriseBois sounded an optimistic note prior to the draft as July 1 approaches.

Meehan told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun on Friday that Stamkos is headed for free agency on Monday, after BriseBois earlier informed media covering the team “right now, we haven’t been able to reach an agreement yet. I don’t know if we will be able to.”

BriseBois mentioned the discussions this week with Stamkos’ representative and that both sides are still interested in him staying, “but we have not been able to agree to terms that are satisfactory for both sides. It’s probably best if I leave my comments to that for the time being.”

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Stamkos’ eight-year deal at $8.5 million US is up and while he would take a pay cut to stay, having that less than half as some reports indicate might be pushing it. At one time there was great interest in him playing for his hometown Maple Leafs before his mega-contract, now it’s unsure where the 34-year-old would land if not back in Amalie Arena where he’s become part of the city’s fabric.

He just had his seventh season of 40 or more goals. Defenceman Victor Hedman is also nearing the end of his Lightning deal, but BriseBois indicated an extension is in the works.

BYE BUY

The first two prominent names to be informed of a buyout when the window opened for NHL teams on Thursday were forward Cam Atkinson of the Philadelphia Flyers and defenceman Ryan Suter of the Dallas Stars.

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Atkinson, 35, had a year remaining with a $5.875 million US hit as GM Danny Briere told local media it was a hard decision. CapFriendly calculated the two-thirds buyout will cost the Flyers $2.383 million toward the cap this coming season and another $1.758 million in ’25-26.

Suter, 39, had 17 points in 82 games and was a playoff contributor, but Dallas GM Jim Nill announced the buyout. It’s a cap hit of $783,334 and $1,433,334 in ’25-26. It was the second time Suter has been cashed out in his NHL career.

DRAFT DAZE

Family friend Steve Nash, the Canadian basketball legend, came to see Macklin Celebrini go No. 1. Celebrini’s father, Rick, from North Vancouver, worked for the Golden State Warriors and Macklin played minor hockey in the Bay Area.

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Singer Celine Dion, who knows her way around the top entertainment venues in Las Vegas, came to the Sphere stage to announce Montreal’s pick at No, 5, scoring KHL winger Ivan Demidov. The kid said he knew Dion well from her ‘Titanic’ theme.

Philadelphia native and legendary fight announcer Michael Buffer, now 79 years old, introduced Guelph Storm centre Jett Luchanko with height, weight and all the bells and whistles. Briere told Sportsnet he was close to trading into the top five, but ending up flipping with the Minnesota Wild and dropping to 13th. Analyzing the trade for the network was Chuck Fletcher, who was GM of both the Flyers and Wild.

Beckett Sennecke’s law literally dropped when the Oshawa Generals forward heard his name much sooner than expected, taken third overall by Anaheim … Right winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard became the first Norwegian taken in the opening round, 15th by Detroit, which might have trouble fitting that name on a sweater. Countryman Stian Solberg was courted by the Leafs, who brought the defenceman from the scouting combine to a private workout. But when Toronto’s turn came at 23rd, they traded it to Anaheim for 31st and 58th, leaving the Ducks to snap up Solberg …. A potential big, bad Bruin was taken at 25 th. Dean Letourneau, 6-foot-6 ½ from St. Andrews College was listed as the tallest first rounder since 1979. He’ll be developing in the Bruins’ backyard at Boston College this year. That’s the same draft spot the B’s hit a homer 10 years ago with David Pastrnak  … The Rangers went with 6-3 defenceman E.J. Emery at 30th from the U.S. Development Program, whose Dad Eric was a CFL linebacker with a few teams in the ’80s.

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ICE CHIPS

Stamkos isn’t the only local legend without a deal heading into the summer. It has been two years without a playoff appearance for Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, though there seems to be better relations with general manager Kyle Dubas than after the latter traded away Crosby favourite Jake Guentzel to Carolina. “We’ve had some talks, I’ll leave it at that,” Crosby said Friday … Guentzel is getting a big offer to stay with the Hurricanes … The St. Louis Blues picked up penalty-killing forward Alexandre Texier from the re-structuring Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday afternoon for a fourth-round pick in 2025. Texier had a career-best 30 points last year in 78 games … The $2.3 billion US Sphere has futuristic screens, sound and had a talking robot introduce the top draft prospects on Friday as they entered … It didn’t stop commissioner Gary Bettman from hearing the traditional booing … Utah owner Ryan Smith held a media conference before the draft and said the new club will sell out all home games in 2024-25 with 30,000 season ticket depositors. The Vegas crowd, sure to be a strong area rival, booed his introduction when Utah made it’s first pick. “We haven’t done anything yet,” Smith said in mock protest … Congrats to Jim Kyte on being named to the Order of Canada this week. The former NHLer who played through hearing loss became an advocate for disability rights … Spotted working out with the Lightning this week in their summer skate, wearing a Tampa practice jersey, one-time Bolt UFA Patrick Maroon, who was with Boston last season … The PWHL’s Walter Cup has now been added to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s major championship trophy display.

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