While prioritizing their captain seems logical, the financial constraints may prompt the Lightning to consider moving on from Stamkos. Despite being the team's heart and soul, he played only one playoff game during the team's first Stanley Cup win in the 2019-20 season, demonstrating success without him on the ice.
If the Lightning are out of the playoff come March, they may be interested in getting something for Stamkos rather than letting him walk in the offseason for nothing. Traditional thinking says that the Leafs should go for an elite defenseman, but those are incredibly hard to find. The Leafs could upgrade their blue-line with more modest players and use what cap space they do have to bring in another impact forward.
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