{"id":619961,"date":"2026-02-27T13:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/619961\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:15:12","slug":"predators-steven-stamkos-would-waive-nmc-for-three-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/619961\/","title":{"rendered":"Predators’ Steven Stamkos Would Waive NMC For Three Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nashville Predators could soon part with their biggest free agency signing in recent memory. Centerman Steven Stamkos<\/a><\/strong> has emerged in trade rumors, though Nashville will have to work around the future Hall-of-Famers\u2019 full no-movement clause. As things stand, Stamkos is only prepared to accept a trade to one of three clubs \u2013 the Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, or Dallas Stars \u2013 per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A reunion in Tampa Bay would certainly be the most welcome outcome. Stamkos spent 16 years with the Lightning after being drafted first overall by the club in 2008. He debuted with a 46-point season in the following season, then jumped to 51 goals and 95 points in the 2009-10 season. The season was, at the time, the third-highest scoring season from a teenager in the NHL since 2000, behind Sidney Crosby<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s first two seasons in the league.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Stamkos found another gear with 60 goals and 97 points two seasons later. With that, he locked in a star\u2019s role on top of the lineup that \u2013 with sustained scoring and an exemplary supporting cast \u2013 would lead Stamkos to back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n

Stamkos left Tampa Bay three seasons later, in one of the most coveted free agency signings of the 2000s. The move hasn\u2019t gone to plan though, with Stamkos dwindling from 81 points in his final year in Tampa Bay to only 53 points in his first season in Nashville. Meanwhile, the Lightning have yet to fill the hole left at the center position, even deploying winger Jake Guentzel<\/a><\/strong> in the center role amid injury troubles. A reunion would mean a return to the top role for Stamkos, and allow Brayden Point<\/a><\/strong> to take a step back amid a down year.<\/p>\n

But while Tampa Bay has stayed a top offense despite their missing piece, the Wild seem a star center shy of emerging as a super-team after trading<\/a> de facto top center Marco Rossi<\/a><\/strong> in a package for top defender Quinn Hughes<\/a><\/strong>. The Wild offense could offer the mix of speed and skill to elevate a 36-year-old Stamkos, who is already scoring at a 40-goal and 63-point pace this season. Stamkos would offer a heavy shot to go with playmakers Kirill Kaprizov<\/a><\/strong>, Matt Boldy<\/a><\/strong>, and Mats Zuccarello<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, Stamkos could become the next star addition to a Dallas club that acquired<\/a> Mikko Rantanen<\/a><\/strong> ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. Dallas has scored the seventh-most goals in the league with Wyatt Johnston<\/a><\/strong> and Matt Duchene<\/a><\/strong> taking on top center duties. Adding another star hand to that mix could be enough to will Dallas back to the Stanley Cup, after three consecutive losses in the Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n

The Predators will need to be handsomely rewarded for departing with the player who was meant to surge the club back to the top of the standings. Future capital will be the focus of any deal, as Nashville looks to expedite a rebuild of their lineup on the back of a strong prospect pool. Teams will also need $8MM in available cap space to take on Stamkos\u2019 deal with no retention. Of the three potential landing spots, only Minnesota could afford that price tag on the day of the Trade Deadline. Tampa Bay would need to clear out $5MM in cap space, while Dallas would need nearly $7MM in space.<\/p>\n

The teams will have a bit of time to pull together the necessary funds, with LeBrun reporting that a deal is most likely to occur around the summer. Stamkos has two years remaining on his current contract. Still, those markers will set a tense market around Nashville\u2019s star, veteran forward. That could leave a Stamkos trade as the top agenda item for whoever replaces current general manager Barry Trotz<\/strong>\u00a0who will step down from his post at the end of the season.<\/a><\/p>\n

Image courtesy of Haljestam-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nashville Predators could soon part with their biggest free agency signing in recent memory. Centerman Steven Stamkos…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":619962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[42],"tags":[1320,3112,3111,1649,293,62,265406,3106,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-619961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-dallas-stars","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nashville-predators","tag-newsstand","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-steven-stamkos","tag-tampa-bay-lightning","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116142782991621423","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}