'Elephant in the room': Will Stamkos return with the Lightning next season?

TAMPA, Fla. - Steven Stamkos was the last Tampa Bay Lightning player to leave the ice after being ousted from the playoffs by the Florida Panthers, but he wasn't taking extra time thinking about his future.

"I wouldn't read anything into me for doing that for any other reason than for wanting to wait for all of our players to leave the ice," Stamkos said.

Now is the time for Stamkos to think about what's next. His contract is up at the end of June, and it's what was on everyone in the organization's mind as they exited for the off-season.

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"Yeah, that's the elephant in the room isn't that," said Brandon Hagel.

"I don't know if I call it an elephant in the room," Jon Cooper said. "I think, on the outside, it gets looked at more than what we feel on the inside, so there is more speculation than what is going on with us."

"I know that he's going to come back, so I don't know what to say," Nikita Kucherov said.

"When I look at Stammer, I believe he's a Bolt for life," Hagel said. "That's just the vibe I get from him."

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Stamkos played through an entire season with his future with the team in question, but both the Lightning and Stamkos made their intentions perfectly clear.

"I briefly met with Stammer when we landed after Game 5," Lightning G.M. Julien Brisebois said. "I spoke with his agent yesterday. It is obviously a priority to see if we can get this done. I am very hopeful."

"You got to start somewhere, so looking forward to that," Stamkos said.

Is he confident a deal will get done?

"It is tough to answer when we have not even had a discussion yet, so we will have to have those discussions, but I am certainly, like I said, excited that were going to have those hopefully soon, and we can go from there," Stamkos said.

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Stamkos' goal is to be a Lightning player for life. He grew up with the team, spending nearly half his life in the Tampa Bay area.

"This city means a lot," Stamkos said. "That was my 16th season here. It's crazy to really think about it. It certainly doesn't feel that way from a physical or mental perspective, because I still love coming to the rink every day, and I love interacting with the fans. Everything that is hockey in this city is amazing and I love it."

"Everyone's been great to me and my family over the years," Stamkos continued. "To start something from where we were my first year to where we are now, it's almost night and day in terms of what this city and hockey mean to each other. It's been fun to be part of that and see it all the way through and, like I said, hopefully more."

There is no question that Stamkos wants to be back on the ice at Amalie Arena in a Lightning sweater next season. He understands the NHL is a business and understands the Lightning's salary cap situation. So is he willing to take less money than what he'd likely get on the open market in free agency?

"I think that has been a part of everyone's thought process in the core group of guys that we have had here in terms of what guys have taken over the years to stay here," Stamkos said. "I understand the tax advantage and that type of thing. Kuch is making $9.5. That is probably grossly underpaid in terms of what guys are getting now. Vasy. Pointer with 40 or 50 goals every year. You look at Matthews. What did he sign for? $13.5 or something? Heddy is making under $8 million. That is grossly underpaid if you look at what he has done."

"That is what everyone has done here and that is why we have had the success and that is the way it has been for this organization. I think that that in itself is a testament to management in how they want to build a team and, first and foremost, the players for wanting to do that and accept that and allow the management to go out there and build a roster to compete for the Stanley Cup. I think that's just always been the way it's been here."

The Lightning have a plan in place heading into next season and it includes #91.

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