The relationship between Tampa Bay and Steven Stamkos broke down last summer

It's the end of the season with the Tampa Bay Lightning as Steven Stamkos went to free agency and signed a four-year contract with the Nashville Predators. Stamkos' new deal has an AAV of $8 million.

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The relationship between Steven Stamkos and the Lightning was strained last season. Stamkos was eligible for an extension on July 1 as he was entering the final year of his contract. However, there are no discussions between him and Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois.

Stamkos expressed frustration at the start of training camp when he said he was disappointed that there were no contract talks, as he had seen Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, and Erik Cernak discussed before he did.

They all respect those players, not Steven Stamkos. When he met with the media on Monday, July 1, Stamkos knew that he might move on last summer even though he wanted to stay in Tampa.

“When I wasn't informed that I signed the contract last summer, it surprised me and it was something I brought up in training camp,” said Stamkos. “Of course that was the beginning of it, the beginning of the writing on the wall.”

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It was a long process of negotiation, and Stamkos didn't let it get in the way of his performance. But as time passed, the light disappeared from him and he stayed with Nyazi. He was hoping for a deal, but in the end, he had to do what was best for him.

“That's the hardest part is trying to hold on to something that maybe you're not trying to hold on to and that was the hardest part,” Stamkos said. “But like I said, the memories I had in Tampa will always speak to any bad intentions or feelings I had throughout this process. Those are temporary, those are emotional decisions and you know as time goes on, those tend to go away. “

Many people are asking what happened between Nyazi and Stamkos. We know that BriseBois has a history of playing heel with his players. You make tough decisions. He took out Ryan McDonagh and brought him back. Then he just sent Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot. Ondrej Palat was not brought back, nor was Alex Killorn or Tyler Johnson.

But this felt different, and Stamkos asked himself this question throughout the process. Colby Armstrong on Sportsnet asked him about this.

“Yeah, to be completely honest, Troops, I finally found myself asking the same question and a lot of the people I talked to, you know, everybody seemed to have the same feeling, it was confusing and weird and at the end of the day, there was no question that I was willing to put all those things aside to remain a member of the Tampa Lightning Bay.

Like I said, my family and I really love playing for that city and playing for the players there. It seemed that perhaps not all thought so, and listen; I'm a big boy; I know that. We went about our business. I thought I played very well this year, without the contract interference and, you know, I told them at the end here that it won't affect my performance. And that's something I was proud of.”

Lightning GM Julien BriseBois was disappointed he couldn't get Stamkos signed to an extension. However, BriseBois admitted that he has done his best with the offer and needs to do the best for the team.

“He definitely wanted to stay in Tampa but, at the same time, it was clear throughout our plan that he had financial expectations that he expected us to meet and, in the end, I felt I made a decision that, if I agreed to the terms. wanted to make a deal, I wouldn't put myself in a good position to chase titles going forward. In the end, we need to make decisions that look forward to the success of the team,” said BriseBois.

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The big question to ask is how bringing McDonagh back to his full cap hit of $6.75 million will improve the Lightning. It didn't. It could make them worse.

While signing Jake Guentzel is a great backup plan, he is no Steven Stamkos. You have to wonder how this shakes up the locker room early in the season.

It will be an emotional game when Steven Stamkos returns to Tampa as a member of the Nashville Predators. This could have been avoided, but instead here we are, Stamkos moving forward and so is the Lightning.