Johnston: Inside the Lightning-Stamkos split — a reminder that in the NHL, business trumps brotherhood

On the intersection of concord and cold-hearted enterprise, the Tampa Bay Lightning discovered themselves separating one of many NHL’s closest, most profitable and longest-running duos this week.

Victor Hedman hadn’t totally processed the truth of Steven Stamkos’ being walked into free company whereas he was signing a four-year, $32 million extension with the Lightning on Tuesday.

You’ve by no means seen a man so downtrodden after securing a big-ticket contract that runs into his late 30s. Hedman couldn’t even convey himself to smile.

“Clearly, it’s tremendous unhappy to see your buddy depart and go play elsewhere,” he mentioned from his offseason house in Sweden.

They’d performed collectively since 2009 — showing in additional than 1,200 video games apiece for the Lightning and twice kicking off the group’s Stanley Cup procession after reaching the head of the game.

Stamkos and Hedman pushed one another by means of exhausting practices and carried their aggressive nature over to the golf course every time downtime allowed. They grew up collectively, attended one another’s weddings, began households and by no means dreamed of a day when Stamkos can be signing with the Nashville Predators whereas Hedman was receiving a contract with an identical phrases from the Lightning.

“It’s going to be exhausting to think about going into our locker room and going into Amalie Enviornment and never seeing him on the ice,” Hedman mentioned. “It’s going to be tremendous, tremendous bizarre.”

Fact be informed, issues had been a bit bizarre between Stamkos and the Lightning’s entrance workplace for some time.

That helps clarify how we arrived at a breaking level.

Stamkos nonetheless doesn’t totally perceive why common supervisor Julien BriseBois let all of final summer season cross with out even broaching a dialogue a couple of potential extension — a frustration the Lightning captain voiced publicly on the opening day of coaching camp in September.

Wanting again after signing his personal four-year $32 million cope with the Predators on Monday, Stamkos recognized that as the start of the top.

Or, as he put it: “The beginning of the writing on the wall.”

Nonetheless, the edges engaged in a collection of negotiations this offseason that stretched into final week. They explored a number of contract ranges and prospects earlier than in the end specializing in a long-term deal that might hold the AAV as little as attainable and protect the membership’s capacity to navigate the wage cap.

BriseBois is a decisive thinker who’s unafraid to make unpopular or unorthodox choices, a lot of which helped construct these Cup-winning groups in 2020 and 2021.

Although understanding totally who Stamkos is and the way a lot he means to Tampa — “I’ll say he’s the perfect spokesperson perhaps within the league for a company,” BriseBois mentioned. “He’s extremely eloquent, genuine, trustworthy, considerate, insightful” — the GM approached the contract talks with a particular view of how the subsequent Stamkos deal needed to match into the Lightning’s total image and didn’t veer from it.

“In the end, there have been eventualities and completely different constructions and methods to place a contract collectively that have been, I felt, in the perfect pursuits of the group,” BriseBois mentioned. “There have been numerous ones that would have labored out. Steven had a number of contracts that would have labored for him, however in the end there was no overlap, and that’s why we didn’t get a deal carried out.”

The Lightning’s greatest supply on an eight-year time period was someplace within the vary of a $3 million common annual worth — considerably much less in complete than Stamkos acquired on his four-year contract from Nashville.

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Now, it’s not utterly honest to check apples to apples.

What he would have accepted to stay in Tampa and what he pursued on the open market have been two various things, Stamkos mentioned.

“Once you’re in a single place for a very very long time, you’re at all times making an attempt to make it work and keep and there’s concessions from either side,” he mentioned. “In order that was a totally completely different scenario from being a free agent on the open market and groups actually going out of their option to present how vital you’d be when you have been capable of be introduced into their organizations.”

Stamkos was prepared to provide a hometown low cost. However because the July 1 opening of free company approached, he felt like he was being requested to provide again greater than he would obtain in return.

“That’s the hardest half, is making an attempt to hold on to one thing that perhaps isn’t making an attempt to hold on to you,” he lamented.

Distinction that with the way in which the group handled Hedman’s scenario, locking him as much as a brand new deal a full 12 months out from unrestricted free company. The Lightning did the identical factor with the large defenseman in 2016 after first letting Stamkos get inside two days of changing into a UFA, and the group even utilized a special strategy to their second NHL contracts earlier than that.

With former GM Steve Yzerman on the helm, Stamkos’s entry-level contract was allowed to run out in 2011 regardless that he already had a 50-goal season below his belt, and Hedman signed an extension with seven months remaining on his.

It’s extra about philosophy than something private: The Lightning are betting {that a} 6-foot-7 defenseman who skates just like the wind and has performed greater than 20 minutes per sport for 15 consecutive seasons is harder to exchange than an elite shooter coming off a 40-goal, age-33 marketing campaign who must proceed producing offense to be efficient.

BriseBois defined that Hedman’s scenario is the exception somewhat than the rule, noting that almost all star-quality NHL gamers in recent times have needed to wait for his or her fourth contract as an alternative of signing an early extension — naming Patrice Bergeron, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Joe Pavelski and Claude Giroux as examples.

Plus Tampa Bay feels it already discovered its Stamkos substitute by signing Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63 million contract Monday. He’s 5 years youthful than the departed captain and a famous big-game scorer who BriseBois believes will match proper into the group’s tradition.

“He’s a Bolt who occurred to haven’t been enjoying for the Bolts prior to now,” BriseBois mentioned. “Right now we type of remedied that.”

Julien Brisebois moved shortly to exchange Steven Stamkos’ offense when a signing grew to become untenable. (Ron Chenoy / USA Right now)

Although this wasn’t how Stamkos or the Lightning’s entrance workplace envisioned issues enjoying out, they remained extremely respectful whereas describing the circumstances that led to a break up.

BriseBois lauded Stamkos as a future Corridor of Famer and wished his household happiness. Stamkos expressed gratitude for the way “first-class” the group and the town have been to him.

“The recollections that I’ve had in Tampa will trump no matter unwell will or emotions I’ve had all through this course of,” Stamkos mentioned. “These are momentary. These are emotional choices, and you recognize as time passes these often go away.”

What is going to stay unbroken is his tie to Hedman, even when solely considered one of them will get the possibility to spend his total profession with the Lightning.

“Earlier than we’re teammates, we’re nice buddies, and we’re at all times going to be,” Hedman mentioned. “Finest-case situation, yeah, we’d have cherished to complete our careers in Tampa and collectively. However this hockey is a enterprise on the finish of the day.”

(High photograph of Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman: Christian Petersen / Getty Photos)