Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman has maintained his goal and intention is to sign captain Steven Stamkos to a long-term deal.
And Yzerman is hoping to have some answers by this weekend.
Stamkos, like other players set to be unrestricted free agents July 1, can start talking to other teams on Saturday in an exclusive interview window.
Yzerman said he's had discussions with Stamkos and agent Don Meehan since the season ended but insists nothing has changed.
"We're doing all we can to sign him," Yzerman told the Tampa Bay Times Monday.
But with the Lightning needing to make a lot of other decisions this summer, like signing restricted free agent Nikita Kucherov and potentiallly figuring out its goaltending situation, it needs its first and biggest domino, Stamkos' contract, to fall.