Rumor: Canucks interested in Steven Stamkos

Dose
Crédit: MONTREAL, CANADA - DECEMBER 05: Lane Hutson #48 of the Montreal Canadiens and Steven Stamkos #91 of the Nashville Predators battle for position near goaltender Sam Montembeault #35 during the first period at the Bell Centre. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

It’s not just the Canadiens who are looking for a good second center. The Canucks desperately need one.

That’s why a rumor is circulating that Vancouver has shown interest in Steven Stamkos.

This information was reported by Rick Dhaliwal of the Donnie & Dhali podcast, which follows Vancouver sports news.

A few hours later, Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects confirmed that he had also heard the rumor.

Both men are unable to confirm the rumor, but hearing it from two different credible sources suggests there’s some truth to it.

For now, Stamkos is far from the same player he was with the Lightning. So far this season, he has just one goal and one assist in 11 games.

Ah. And his goal was a lucky one against the Canadiens. His shot wasn’t even headed for the net and deflected off a skate.

A change of scenery could do Stamkos a world of good.

For their part, the Canucks really want to add a quality center forward. They traded for Lukas Reichel during the season, but let’s just say he’s no luxury second center.

Stamkos is in the second year of a four-season deal with the Predators. His contract is worth $8 million on the payroll.

With such a large salary, it’s to be expected that the Canucks will ask Nashville to retain part of it. In any case, without salary retention, he’s not worth much.

This is an issue to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

In Overtime

– An important plateau for Tyler Seguin.

– Excellent costume!

– This is the kind of player many teams dream of having.

– We’ll have to wait to see Adrian Kempe sign a contract extension.