Steven Stamkos continues to keep details of his contract negotiations - or lack thereof, as the case may be - with the Tampa Bay Lightning close to the vest.
He has indicated, however, that some measure of clarity will come with the passing of the NHL's Feb. 29 trade deadline.
"The trade deadline is coming up in a couple weeks, I'm sure everyone will have some answers in a couple weeks when that comes," Stamkos said Thursday, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
This comes less than two weeks after Stamkos said he wanted to win with Tampa, thereby indicating a clear desire to remain with the Lightning, at least through to the end of the season.
Stamkos maintained he hasn't considered what he would do if the Lightning asked him to waive his no-movement clause prior to the deadline, while also not ruling out the possibility that general manager Steve Yzerman would look to trade him so as not to lose him for nothing in free agency in the summer.
"I haven't even thought about that," Stamkos said. "I think the answer is, 'We'll cross that bridge at the time', and I don't think it's that time now. So I continue to come to the rink everyday as the leader that I am and the teammate that everyone in this room knows that I am, and give my best effort. I've said that since day one of training camp and that hasn't changed."
He also acknowledged the lack of clarity will fuel speculation, but at the end of the day, he's intent on making sure all angles are covered before making his decision on whether to re-sign or test the waters of unrestricted free agency.
"Obviously a lot of people are guessing and writing stories and stuff like that. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I think for me, it's been something I didn't know what to expect going into this year, I didn't know how long it was going to play out. It's my first time going through something of this magnitude in my career.
"Like I said before, when you have a decision like this, it takes time. You make sure at the end of the day you make the right decision."
The Lightning have eight games remaining prior to the trade deadline, and will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs hours after its passing on Feb. 29.
