He's got his 2 rings, he's been to 4 Stanley Cup Finals, and 3 other times made it to game 7 of the Conference Finals. He's already hit a number of NHL milestones the past 2 years, and he's a lock for the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest goal scorers ever. I would not hold it against him if now was the time to collect on some more earnings before turning 35. But when asked about taking another discount,
this was his answer from his exit interview:
Maybe something you don't want to put out there publicly before negotiations, but that is Stammer true to himself. He helped set the standard of excellence here. So it's no surprise that after a decade of winning that he would take pride in that and prioritize it over money. His small mention of Matthews and therefore Toronto, makes a sharp comparison of when players go in the opposite direction.
It's just a question of what's agreeable. There's no question Stamkos will take below value, but by how much? He won't stay for free, but as he understands what needs to be done in the salary cap era to ice the best roster. The timing of the Ryan McDonagh trade is interesting. Does it help or hurt negotiations? Stammer would agree with JBB that McD (a big part of the cup teams) increases their odds for 2025, but it also takes some money away from Stammer himself.