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Steven Stamkos will be playing for a new NHL team as he’s expected to sign with the Nashville Predators in free agency on July 1, according to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun.
Stamkos was the top free agent available and LeBrun reports Stamkos has agreed to a four-year deal worth $8 million per season. In total, Stamkos will make $32 million over the four years with Nashville.
The 34-year-old has been a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning since he was drafted first overall in the 2008 NHL draft. Despite being the face of the franchise, Tampa Bay did not extend him and Stamkos hit the open market and has now signed with the Predators.
Stamkos recorded 40 goals and 41 assists for 81 points in 79 games with the Lightning last season.
Stamkos Was Frustrated With Lack of Extension Talks
Despite Stamkos being the Lightning’s captain, and the face of the franchise, the team decided to not re-sign him.
Before the season even started, Stamkos vented his frustration that the Lightning did not talk to him about a contract extension.
“To be honest, I’m disappointed in the lack of talk in that regard,” Stamkos said before the season started, via Sportsnet. “It was something that I expressed at the end of last year that I wanted to get something done before training camp started…
“I guess that was something that I didn’t see coming,” Stamkos added. “It is what it is. I would love to extend and play here and finish out my career here, but that’s out of my hands. I can’t write a contract for myself.”
It was disappointing for Stamkos to not get a new contract and he now will be playing for a new team for the first time in his career.
Stamkos helped the Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
Predators Expected to be Busy in Free Agency
Nashville is expected to be one of the more active teams in free agency on July 1.
The Predators have just over $26 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly before the signing with Stamkos becomes official.
Along with Stamkos, Nashville is showing interest in Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. According to LeBrun, a deal with Marchessault is also nearly finalized.
Marchessault was a key member of the Vegas Golden Knights team that won the Stanley Cup in 2023. This past season, Marchessault recorded 42 goals and 27 assists for 69 points in 82 games.
Heading into the offseason, Predators general manager Barry Trotz had said he planned to be aggressive and that appears to be the case.
“I’m trying to be quite aggressive, but I’m also being quite calculating, trying to do some hopefully multiple pieces that may help us,” Trotz said, via Nashville Post. “Right now, there’s been no movement on anything. But it will heat up in the next few days here. It’s heated up already. But now I think teams are seeing [and] trying to do what they can with their players and their teams, and go from there.”
Nashville was eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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