Steve Yzerman and Red Wings Dodge $32M Bullet in Free Agency
Photo credit: The Detroit News
Despite being allegedly linked to Steven Stamkos, the Red Wings ultimately may have dodged a bullet by not signing him thanks to how badly he's struggled this year.
The Detroit Red Wings and Steven Stamkos seemed like a perfect fit with one another entering free agency last summer.
After all, Stamkos was well acquainted with Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, who served in that role for several years with the Tampa Bay Lightning and even signed Stamkos to his previous contract extension in 2016.
And then there was the fact that Stamkos played under now-former Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde, who was an assistant for several years with Tampa.
However, Stamkos did not sign with the Red Wings and instead signed a 4-year deal with the Nashville Predators, a $32,000,000 contract.
And while it may have been disappointing for Red Wings fans at first, hindsight is 20-20. Stamkos and the Predators have inexplicably struggled this year, finding themselves in 2nd to last place in the Western Conference.
Even more strange is the fact that Stamkos appears completely cooked, having gone his last 13 games without a single point; he's not scored a goal since January 23.
He's tied to the Predators for 3 more years at an AAV (average annual value) of $8 million a year. If this is the new normal for Stamkos, that contract is going to quickly become one of the biggest anchors in the NHL.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman appeared to hint that Detroit was in on Stamkos last summer
During an early July press conference, Yzerman appeared to imply that he had interest in one very particular player, but ultimately things didn't work out.
We had some interest in one that we thought might be a fit. You know these things got to happen really quickly.
And we decided very quickly that it's going to be really some major surgery here to try and get it done and and we didn't want to waste everybody's time in really getting there.
And we decided very quickly that it's going to be really some major surgery here to try and get it done and and we didn't want to waste everybody's time in really getting there.
While he didn't specifically say Stamkos' name, it's likely that's who he was referring to.
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