| Nick Obergan. 22nd July, 2011 - 12:59 pm
 Wednesday was a bright day for fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the club came to terms with one of the most high profile restricted free agents of all-time, Steven Stamkos. The 21-year-old sniper and the club that drafted him 1st overall in 2008 agreed on a five-year, $37.5M contract. The $7.5M cap hit will give Stamkos one of the ten highest cap hits in the NHL.
There should be no doubt that Stamkos is absolutely worth one of the ten highest annual average salaries in the league. After an up and down rookie season (23-23-46, -13) in 2008-09, no one has scored more goals than Stamkos over the last two seasons (51-44-95 in 2009-10, 45-46-91 in 2010-11). In just his second year in the league, Stamkos was tied for the league-lead in goals, earning him a share of the Rocket Richard Trophy with Sidney Crosby.
In addition to the premier goal scoring, Stamkos has finished 5th in the league in points in each of the last two seasons, and has not missed a single game over that time. And in his first taste of NHL playoff action, Stamkos contributed 6-7-13 in 18 games; not up to his typical scoring standards, but a good introduction to the postseason no less. Stamkos also showed his heart and toughness against Boston in the Conference Finals, taking a puck off the bridge of his nose and coming back into the game with the wound still open and nose clearly broken.
Aside from statistics, Stamkos has shown himself to be an upstanding person, one not likely to be satisfied with what he has accomplished, but seems hungry to achieve bigger and better things. He seems humble and thankful to the Tampa organization, and genuinely wants to play there. While Tampa was not able to sign Stamkos to a life-time contract, it does guard them against potential injury, or drastic changes to the next CBA.
Grade for Tampa Bay: A-
For Stamkos, he is a superstar who was able to sign a superstar deal immediately after his rookie scale contract ended. He is without a doubt one of the top-10 players in the league, and now is he being paid like one. He was able to secure some front-end signing bonuses to guard against a drop in the next CBA, while at the same time giving himself the opportunity to sign a bigger deal at the tender age of 26-years-old when he is just entering his prime. In the meantime he will spend five more years on a team with great management, great coaching and a great core.
Grade for Stamkos: A+ |
