Stamkos finds peace following noisy freeagent season

A cloud hovered over Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning every day last season.

The cloud was really a question mark that nobody could escape: would Stamkos, then a pending unrestricted free agent, stick around or bolt to play elsewhere? He and the Lightning tried keep the uncertainty from taking over, even reaching a second straight Eastern Conference final.

“But deep inside you know that it has to be on his mind,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said this week. “Everybody thinks about ‘Where’s my future going to take me? Am I moving? Am I switching teams? Do I want to do that?’ Then you’ve got all that outside noise, too. Turn the TV on and it’s being talked about. Every building you have to answer questions. There’s no question that weighs on you.”

Stamkos ended the suspense two days before July 1, re-signing in Tampa for eight years and US$68 million. But for the 11 preceding months, the speculation was endless.

Tampa’s captain tried to keep thoughts about his future at bay, but they were in there somewhere, he said.

Stamkos is a star in the prime of his career so the question wasn’t whether he’d get paid, but where. Tampa? Toronto? Detroit? Montreal? Buffalo? New York?

Teammates opted to leave the matter alone. Some only found out their teammate had re-signed via social media.

Signing Stamkos was only one part of a much larger puzzle for general manager Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman and the Stamkos camp kept a lid on contract talks throughout the season, but the secrecy only produced more intrigue. The longer it dragged on the more it looked like Stamkos might sign elsewhere. Teammates were anxious. Trips to Toronto, a hotly rumoured destination, became circus-like sideshows focused entirely on the Markham, Ont., native returning home to play for the Leafs.

All of which makes this season so different for the Lightning and their captain. One of the only real questions about the Lightning is whether a first Stanley Cup since 2006 is in order. Cooper and Stamkos’s teammates sense a captain finally at ease.

“Now, it’s just come to the rink and have some fun and do what you’ve got to do to help your team win,” said Stamkos, who matched a career-high with four points in a 7-3 win over the Leafs on Tuesday night.

“And (they know) when they come into a scrum like this that the first question’s not going to be ‘Where you playing next year?’ ” added Cooper.