{"id":475404,"date":"2026-02-27T16:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/475404\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:52:14","slug":"steven-stamkos-linked-to-lightning-stars-wild-a-week-before-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/475404\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Stamkos linked to Lightning, Stars, Wild a week before trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nashville Predators<\/a> are rapidly looking set to make major moves ahead of the March 6 trade deadline, especially if their playoff odds take a hit over the coming days. Currently sitting four points out of a Wild Card berth, the Predators are evaluating their long-term roster direction as general manager Barry Trotz prepares to step down at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

Among those potential moves might just be an exit for Steven Stamkos, who the Predators are not understood to be desperate<\/a> to move on, but might still consider offers<\/a>, per The Athletic\u2019s Pierre LeBrun.<\/p>\n

While Stamkos is reportedly content in Nashville, he holds a full no-movement clause and has proactively prepared a list of preferred destinations should management opt to sell, keeping in mind his family. That exclusive list features three primary Stanley Cup contenders: the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>, Dallas Stars<\/a>, and Minnesota Wild<\/a>, with the New Jersey Devils viewed as a peripheral option.<\/p>\n

A mid-season blockbuster involving the veteran forward hinges entirely on salary cap mechanics. Stamkos carries an $8 million average annual value (AAV) with two years remaining on the four-year, $32 million pact he signed in July 2024.<\/p>\n

The Wild present the most seamless financial fit; they boast an estimated $10.34 million in cap space and have a glaring need for a top-six center after trading Marco Rossi in a package for defenseman Quinn Hughes. Conversely, the Stars and Lightning face severe financial hurdles.<\/p>\n

Dallas, which already acquired Mikko Rantanen ahead of the 2025 deadline, sits just $1.4 million below the cap. A potential reunion with Tampa Bay, where Stamkos spent 16 seasons and won back-to-back Stanley Cups, would require the Lightning to clear roughly $5 million in space unless Nashville retains a significant portion of the contract.<\/p>\n

On the ice, Stamkos has orchestrated a massive offensive resurgence of late. Following a turbulent 2024-25 introduction to Nashville, where he posted a career-worst minus-36 rating and a 16-year low of 53 points, the forward currently has 27 goals over his last 43 games.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nashville Predators are rapidly looking set to make major moves ahead of the March 6 trade deadline,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5117],"tags":[196,147,5278,5,38,231,4,4303,197,1489,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-475404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-stars","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-stars","10":"tag-dallasstars","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-minnesota-wild","13":"tag-nashville-predators","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nhl-stories","16":"tag-stars","17":"tag-steven-stamkos","18":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116143636203601923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}