Jon Cooper had Steven Stamkos right in his line of sight.
Speaking ahead of the NHL draft at the stunning Sphere auditorium about February's 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the Tampa Bay Lightning head coach sat opposite a giant picture of his captain taken the day he was selected first overall in 2008.
"I've been staring at him the whole time," Cooper said with a grin when asked about Stamkos, who is poised to hit the market Monday when free agency opens unless the team and player come to an agreement on a new deal. "You know how I feel about him," Canada's coach for the 4 Nations continued."This whole thing's a process."
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois, however, subsequently said he met with Don Meehan, the agent for Stamkos, over the weekend.The Lightning then made a trade Sunday, picking up the rights to Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes in hopes of signing the winger before other teams get the chance.
With all that in mind, The Canadian Press takes a look at some of the big-name free agents in this year's class:The winger might be the most sought after player when the clock strikes 12 p.m. ET on Monday — unless he signs in Tampa first. Guentzel was a trade deadline acquisition by Carolina from the Pittsburgh Penguins, finishing the season with 30 goals and 77 points in 77 games. He's put up 227 goals and 491 points in 520 regular-season contests.
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