It's time for Steven Stamkos to make his decision.
The Tampa Bay Lightning captain has been surrounded by speculation for a calendar year, and with the clock counting down, the biggest fish in the unrestricted-free-agent pond will soon determine his fate.
Ultimately, Stamkos holds the keys, as all 30 NHL teams would be happy to add a player of his caliber, but only a handful can make it work.
Here are the contenders:
1. Tampa Bay
Unless he's after a max contract, staying put with the Lightning makes the most sense for Stamkos.
Tampa Bay is a notoriously tight-knit group, and has reached the last two Eastern Conference Finals. Remaining with the Lightning likely gives the 26-year-old the greatest chance to win.
The problem for Steve Yzerman and Co. is the salary cap. The Lightning are pressed against the ceiling, and have to work out deals with Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman, and Ben Bishop, among others, over the next two seasons.
2. Detroit Red Wings
Hockeytown could have a new star come July 1.
With the all but imminent departure of Pavel Datsyuk, the Red Wings have options to lure Stamkos in.
Ken Holland could package Datsyuk's contract ($7.5 million) with a young player to create both cap and roster space. TSN's Bob McKenzie reported Tomas Jurco or Teemu Pulkkinen could be in play, and goaltender Jimmy Howard has said he's open to being dealt.
Perhaps more importantly than any potential deal Holland can muster up, Detroit's most notable free agents are Petr Mrazek and Danny Dekeyser, neither of which should set the Red Wings back too much.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
Linked from the get-go, a Stamkos hometown reunion would set the hockey world ablaze.
Whether liking that tweet in December was inadvertent or not, the Maple Leafs are expected to make a push at Stamkos.
Toronto is littered with young talent, with more on the way on draft day in Auston Matthews (presumably), and the front office has a firm plan in place for a successful rebuild.
Stamkos could essentially be handed the reins as the team's leader, and Toronto has the cap space to make it happen.
4. New York Rangers
Buying a star player would be nothing new for the Rangers.
New York's window to win opens as wide as Henrik Lundqvist can hold it, but, somewhat surprisingly, the Rangers could make this work, and are expected to pursue it, according to McKenzie.
Eric Staal's contract will be off the books, Keith Yandle is expected to sign elsewhere, and Rick Nash is hot on the trade market, creating ample space for the Blueshirts to lure Stamkos to Broadway.
However, forwards Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, and Kevin Hayes need new contracts, and are likely due for raises.
5. Buffalo Sabres
After missing out on the Connor McDavid and Mike Babcock sweepstakes, this could be the splash general manager Tim Murray has long hoped to make.
Much like Toronto, Buffalo has plenty of youth, along with even more cap space, and the addition of Stamkos would accelerate the team's quest to become a contender.
Murray needs to sign youngsters Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Ristolainen, but would still have the space to add Stamkos to create an incredibly talented four lines.
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The Dallas Stars are set to promote a few employees. Defensemen, in particular.
Even after trading the negotiating rights of blue-liner Alex Goligoski to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, the Stars will head into July 1 with another three defensemen set to hit the open market: Jordie Benn, Jason Demers, and trade-deadline acquisition Kris Russell.
That's a lot of minutes to fill. But general manager Jim Nill isn't panicking, because he's relying on some of the kids - Stephen Johns, Esa Lindell, Patrik Nemeth, and Jamie Oleksiak - to step up.
"It's time for them to start grabbing more of the action," Nill told the Stars' website. "If nothing happens, we are comfortable going with what we have right now. If there is somebody out there that is a fit for us, great. They've got to fit for us as a player and fit for us financially. We've got lots of flexibility, and it opens the door for us in other ways."
| D-Men | GP | Ice Time Per Game |
|---|---|---|
| Russell* | 11 | 24:02 |
| Goligoski* | 82 | 23:50 |
| John Klingberg | 76 | 22:41 |
| Demers* | 62 | 20:52 |
| Johnny Oduya | 82 | 20:23 |
| Johns | 14 | 17:50 |
| Benn* | 64 | 15:39 |
| Nemeth | 38 | 15:38 |
| Lindell | 4 | 14:03 |
| Oleksiak | 19 | 12:43 |
*UFA
Among the top four Stars defensemen in average ice time - including Russell's small sample size - only John Klingberg is returning. And the Stars may yet sign Russell, Demers, or Benn, but there are certainly holes on the blue line.
Sink or swim, gents.
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Ken Holland has a lot on his mind these days.
As the Detroit Red Wings' general manager prepares for an announcement Saturday with regards to Pavel Datsyuk's future, he's also contemplating a trade involving Jimmy Howard, who has been supplanted as the starting goalie by Petr Mrazek.
"I can see on the one hand that having two goaltenders, it’s a nice luxury," Holland said, according to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. "Certainly Jimmy Howard played an important role down the stretch in our team qualifying for the playoffs.
"(A trade) might be good for some careers and good for the organization. I’ve thought about it lots."
Mrazek, 24, is set to become a restricted free agent, and posted better numbers in 2015-16 than the 32-year-old Howard, who's on the books for three more seasons at a cap hit of $5,291,666.
| Player | Games | Record | Sv% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Howard | 37 | 14-14-15 | .906 |
| Petr Mrazek | 54 | 27-16-6 | .921 |
Howard was given the opportunity to start for Detroit to begin the playoffs, but posted a save percentage of .891 in two losses to Tampa Bay before Mrazek entered and allowed four goals over the next three games.
Whether there's a team out there willing to take on Howard's contract and seemingly diminished skills remains to be seen.
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The NHL offseason comes quick, especially for the Stanley Cup champions.
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is in a unique position this summer. He may have to decide between Marc-Andre Fleury, a fan favorite and rock-solid veteran, and Matt Murray, the wunderkind who just put together one of the best rookie postseasons in NHL history.
Though no one knows if Fleury will be dealt, he's already garnered attention from other teams, but Rutherford has no problem with keeping two reliable netminders in Pittsburgh's crease.
"Ideally, we'd like to start next year with both goalies, Fleury and Murray," Rutherford told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. "But we have to look into some things. We have to, first of all, look into what the expansion guidelines are, and talk internally as to how all this works, if both goalies are here.
"We're very fortunate that we have two very good goalies; one a franchise goalie who's done a lot for the Penguins over the years and another up-and-coming young guy that just helped win a Stanley Cup. We have to look at the situation, but it's a good one to be in."
Fleury was enjoying a strong season before injuries derailed it, posting a 35-17-6 record with five shutouts, a 2.29 goals-against average, and a .921 save percentage.
Murray, on the other hand, has only played 13 career regular season games, winning nine of them. In the playoffs, he was 15-6 with a 2.08 GAA and a .923 save clip.
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