The next salary of Steven Stamkos contract's revealed?
Rumors linking Tampa Bay Lightning's star forward Steven Stamkos to the Montreal Canadiens seem to be getting more serious. Martin St-Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and Kent Hughes now know the price to pay to acquire the center.
Fans are rather hesitant when it comes to opening their wallets to pay for the player in question, being aware of the injury history of the Tampa Bay Lightning captain.
According to AFP Analytics, a specialized firm that makes predictions about upcoming contracts for National Hockey League players, the next deal that Steven Stamkos should sign could be significantly cheaper than anticipated.
A $6.3 Million Per Year Contract for 3 Seasons for Steven Stamkos?
At least, that's what the data suggests. Would you sign him at that price?
This means that Steven Stamkos' deal would be quite comparable to the contracts given to Joe Pavelski, Anze Kopitar, or Evgeni Malkin.
The big guy from the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to a four-year contract with the team with an annual salary of $6.1 million.
At this salary, Stamkos would become the fourth highest-paid player on the Montreal Canadiens, after Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Brendan Gallagher. However, the Canadiens will need to negotiate with Juraj Slafkovsky at the end of the next season. It's likely that the Slovak will demand a significant raise if he has a 60-70 point season in 2024-2025.
Scenarios for signing unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, or trades have been proposed in recent days. It's difficult to know Kent Hughes' options at this point.
At 34 years old, Steven Stamkos was the first overall pick in the 2008 draft. In 2023-2024, he scored 81 points in 79 games this season, including 40 goals. A 40-goal scorer at $6.3M... that's rare! It could be a bargain. However, the Canadiens don't have a player of the caliber of Nikita Kucherov or Victor Hedman.
His shot is powerful and he can find the back of the net. In a top-6 role, Steven Stamkos would add a lot of depth and offensive talent to a team that struggled to score on its second, third, and fourth offensive lines.
