Steven Stamkos' reasoning for leaving Tampa Bay may have just been confirmed

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Axel Williams
August 26, 2024 (11:30)

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Steven Stamkos shocked the hockey world earlier this year when he revealed that he would be leaving the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Nashville Predators.

His deal in Nashville is for four years and $32 million. It is a nice payday, and as it turns out, his departure from Tampa Bay may have been because of a strategic shift that the Lightning were making throughout the offseason.

If you are a fan of the team, you know that they struggled defending the rush last season. This led to some big trades, as well as free agent signings that shook up the make-up of the squad. As for Stamkos, he was not great at defending the rush, and he may have been feeling a bit left out. This information was implied by Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, who recently spoke to Elliotte Friedman for 32 Thoughts.

"Cernak credited AHL Syracuse coach Benoit Groulx for agreeing to go out on the ice with him before practice when the defenceman was with the Crunch, a critical step in his grind towards the NHL. Groulx taught him «all the small details I have to do, add to my game. He was hard on me. Sometimes you don't like it, but that's the way you get better and get to your dream.»

He also confirmed one thing I'd heard: the Lightning thought they were vulnerable against the rush in 2023-24, and some of the changes made were to address that."

Regardless, Stamkos won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning and he will always be remembered as one of if not the greatest player in the history of the franchise. We're just happy that we got to watch him play some of his best hockey down in Florida. Hopefully, he is able to have some great seasons in Nashville as that team looks to get back to their Stanley Cup Finals form of 2017.

Do you believe that Steven Stamkos made the right move by leaving the Nashville Predators? Let us know in the poll down below and stay tuned to Hockey Unplugged for the latest news and updates from around the hockey world.

Source: Sportsnet
32 Thoughts: A collection of late off-season notes