Blocked By Ownership: Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos Was Nearly Traded to a Conference Rival in What Would Have Been One of the Most Disastrous Deals of the Century

Steven Stamkos was almost shipped away from the Tampa Bay Lightning but the Tampa Bay Co-Owner blocked the trade before it could go through.

A social media post has gone viral for revealing the failed blockbuster trade between the Rangers and the Lightning from 2010. The trade would have sent a 20-year-old Steven Stamkos to the New York Rangers in exchange for two young players.

This trade would have certainly altered the outlook of the NHL today. For the Rangers to get a prime Steven Stamkos for at best the price of Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi would have been highway robbery.

In the original post, they go over the potential fallout of this trade. Undoubtedly the largest effect would have come in the late 2010s and the early 2020s. Of the players offered to Tampa in the package, most were not even in the NHL during the Lightning's dynasty and those who were still playing were not impact players.

Stamkos on the other hand was producing at a 100 pace for the majority of the Lightning's dynasty. To take away Stamkos from these Lightning teams would have meant that they would have gone from the best team to a very good team and 99.9% of the time, very good teams are not dynasties.

Stamkos would have also been with the Rangers during their 2014 cup run and he certainly could have changed the outlook of that series. The Rangers lost in five games but three of their four losses came in overtime. To insert a 60-goal caliber player into that roster would have been able to provide more scoring and potentially even help the Rangers win that series.

While it is all speculative on what would have happened, one thing for certain would be that the entire NHL would have been changed if this deal went through.

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