Steven Stamkos reportedly open to a trade, lists 3 teams as potential destinations

It looks like the dominos are beginning to fall in Nashville.

NHL Insiders have reported that Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos is open to waiving his no-movement-clause as long as his requests on where to be dealt are met. TSN insider Pierre LeBrun was the first to break the news.

According to LeBrun, Stamkos is wanting to stay put in Nashville for the time being but has prepared a list of three teams he'd prefer to play for if a trade does unwind. Stamkos listed the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild as the three teams he'd prefer to get traded to if it does happen.

He formerly played with the Lightning for 16 years prior to playing with the Predators. It would be a nice storyline to see a move made by Tampa, since they've previously made trades to reacquire old pieces, such as Ryan McDonagh.

Stamkos, 36, signed four-year deal worth $48 million with the Predators in 2024. His contract holds a full NMC, stunting the ability to trade him in prior trade deadlines.

The two-time Stanley Cup champion has 29 goals and 45 points this season, putting him on pace to break his previous best with the team of 27 goals and 53 points. He scored an empty netter in last night's 4-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Stamkos has four goals and seven points in his last five games.

LeBrun calls this a "summer discussion" but a deadline deal isn't off the table

As reported by LeBrun, Stamkos is fine with his tenure in Nashville but isn't fully closed off to the idea of a trade. One of the reasons this trade isn't fully plausible for this year's trade deadline is due to his expensive contract. There are a handful of cup contenders this season that have less remaining cap space than what Stamkos' AAV. If Predators General Manager Barry Trotz wants to make a deal, salary retention or acquisition will have to occur.

Nashville has one salary retention spot left this season but will acquire all three spots in the offseason. Hockey is a business and frankly, the time isn't perfect to make a deal. It's about strategy and it's reasonable to wait a few more months before trading away such a large piece.

There are other pieces of value that could be dealt where salary retention increases trade value. Michael Bunting, who's on an expiring deal, is a great example of a suitor for the final retention spot this deadline. He'smaking $4.5 million which is a good amount for most teams to tackle, but a lowered salary would boost his trade value.

In the offseason, teams will have more salary to work with and less stress to make a team-changing move. I discussed this in the past where I said that teams don't want to risk taking on a big deal with so little trade time left. If a team wants to make a roster-changing acquisition, it's smarter to do it in the summer.

While I do think kicking tires with a big name is fun to imagine, it's not the smartest move. Other big and cheaper names have announced their interests in a trade, like winger Jonathan Marchessault who's willing to work with the team to find a destination of interest.

Overall, Stamkos is an important piece to this team and a core piece to the locker, as seen by the A on his jersey. With the young guys moving up in the lineup, I feel it's important to keep a winning teammate in the locker room to provide them with a role model.