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The Tampa Bay Lightning appear to be pursuing a pending unrestricted free agent that isn't Steven Stamkos.
The Lightning made multiple trades during Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft that cleared up significant cap space ahead of NHL Free Agency. While first impressions could indicate it was in an effort to re-sign captain Steven Stamkos, Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported that a different high-level forward may be the franchise's preference.
"Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois did circle back to veteran agent Don Meehan on Saturday regarding pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos, so there's that," Lebrun and Johnston wrote.