Red Wings Ownership Blocks and Shuts Down Steve Yzerman's Big Swing to Sign NHL Superstar in the Summer
A new report has emerged today saying that Steve Yzerman attempted to sign Steven Stamkos this summer, but was shot down by owner Chris Ilitch.
Apparently, Yzerman wanted to take a big swing in free agency this summer.
After the Red Wings finished just short of the playoffs last year, it stands to reason why he would want to make the move.
If the team had just one more player of Stamkos' caliber last season, they very likely would have made it to the postseason.
As such, he did have a plan, but could not execute it due to being blocked by the team's owner, who ultimately has the final say with everything.
Then Nashville offers him four years, so Yzerman offers to match. He goes to Chris Ilitch asking if they can go ahead with the four-year deal and he said he would get back to him. He never heard back. Crickets."
Ultimately, the Predators went ahead with the four-year deal for Stamkos.
Perhaps Ilitch actually saved Yzerman with the move though. Stamkos has not exactly been doing great this season.
Through 20 games with the Predators, the former Lightning captain has just 6 goals and 10 points. He has genuinely been a big part of the reason why the team is in last place in the league.
At 34 years old, perhaps father time is starting to catch up with stammer. After all, it does happen to everyone, even Hall of Famers.
If this is the beginning of a decline for Stamkos, even his current three-year deal could look very bad very quickly.
With an 8 million dollar cap hit, he is the 3rd highest paid player on the team only behind Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg. He is fourth on points, but that speaks more to how bad the team as a whole has been.
With 10 points, Stamkos would be way further down the depth charts on many teams around the league. A 40-point pace should not be good enough for 4th best on the team.
| POLL | ||
Do you think Steven Stamkos would have signed with the Detroit Red Wings if they offered him an identical contract to the one he signed with the Predators? | ||
| Yes | 416 | 78.8 % |
| No | 112 | 21.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
