Steve Yzerman announced via press release that the team will not trade Stamkos before the trade deadline on February 29.
Is anyone surprised?
It makes zero sense for Tampa Bay to trade Stamkos right now. They still have most of the roster that went on a Stanley Cup final run in 2015 and it wouldn't be wise to doubt their chances of doing so again.
Have they struggled at times? Yes. Have injuries hurt them? Ask Tyler Johnson or Jason Garrison or Ondrej Palat. It hasn't been a perfect season but they're still firing at a 52.5% Corsi possession clip and their PDO is slightly below 100 to suggest there's room to improve.
The other part of this people forget? Steven Stamkos has a no-movement clause. The Lightning would have to work with Stamkos to move him to specific teams only rather than having the entire league at their disposal. Stamkos had the leverage.
If Yzerman found a team that Stamkos was willing to accept a trade to, he then would need to find an adequate enough return to justify that the team wasn't giving up on the season. Yzerman has done this before on a trade request (the Rangers paid a lot for St. Louis) but with a pending UFA there was virtually zero chance a contender would be able to help replace the impact of Stamkos for the upcoming postseason.
I wouldn't be surprised if teams even tried to downplay his value by saying it's a down season for him. He's on pace for 62 points, his lowest points-per-game total since his rookie season under Barry Melrose and Rick Tocchet.
Yzerman may not provide Tradecentre with their superstar name, but the drama isn't over.
No one is really commenting on contract negotiations. Stamkos is addressing reporters whenever they bring it up but Steve Yzerman hasn't gone into detail on progress and neither has owner Jeff Vinik. The insiders at both TSN and Sportsnet also don't have much to say at this time, with Bob McKenzie predicting Buffalo would be his landing spot during an edition of the TSN quiz.
Seems like radio silence.
It's hard to even gauge whether Stamkos is committed to staying or if he's already thinking about a greener pasture.
I guess we'll see if a cup changes his mind.
DION PHANEUF TRADE ANALYSIS:
There are still teams in this league that believe Dion Phaneuf is a top four D-man that takes on the tough minutes and Ottawa is one of them.
I don't know if he still can.
From a visual standpoint, his skating ability looks rough. His ability to set an angle at forwards approaching him is diminishing, leading to less of the big hits he's known for and more pylon moments. He's only going to get slower as this monster of a contract goes forward.
In the short-term? It might work out. He may be a nice guy to have on the PP or a guy that can take a load off some of the Sens D like Borowiecki or Ceci.
In the long-term? That contract may end up as a disaster.
The Leafs couldn't be happier to ditch Dion because of that contract. They didn't love having to stick with Colin Greening or Milan Michalek for an extra season but once that's over they're rewarded with a ton of cap room to play with.
The Leafs with a depleted, Phaneuf-less roster ended up beating Vancouver 5-2. Not a bad start.