Blame the Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Wednesday, the Lightning re-signed pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos to an eight-year contract extension. This is good news for Tampa Bay, because locking down one of the league's rare elite talents—a move the team noted on Twitter—is good news:
Stamkos is that. Since his breakthrough Richard Trophy-winning performance in 2009-10, he's scored 289 goals, more than any other player, save Alex Ovechkin. And the two are separated only because Ovechkin has played more games. Stamkos is the best pure shooter in the sport, with a 17.7 shooting percentage over that span; the next-best player with at least 1,000 shots is down at 15.0 percent (Brad Marchand).
The trouble is, rather than the focus being on a bidding war centered on perhaps the best pure goal scorer in the world, it shifts to secondary targets. Teams that had hoped to bring in a franchise-altering centre now have to refocus, instead prioritizing a scoring winger or a less dynamic piece down the middle.
Still, there are good players out there, and at least one solid option at every ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Ultimate Guide to NHL Free Agency 2016
June 30th, 2016 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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