From The Silky Mitten State: Should NHL teams allow emotion inform free agency decisions? Where do fans fit into that equation?
On the latest episode of The Silky Mitten State, my co-host Connor Earegood and I used Steven Stamkos as a test case through which to consider the balance of emotion and ruthless reason when it comes to NHL free agency.
There had been a rift between Stamkos and the Lightning since the first day of training camp, with the two-time Stanley Cup-winning captain suggesting that he would love to re-sign but that Tampa brass was reluctant to even negotiate his continuity. Just before free agency, with major trades to offload salary (Mikhail Segachev to Utah and Tanner Jeannot to Los Angeles), it appeared the Lightning just might have the dollars to bring back Stamkos.
Instead, the signed Jake Guentzel to a monster contract as a direct replacement for Stamkos, then gave an extension to Victor Hedman worth the exact same dollars and term Stamkos agreed to in Nashville.
Connor and I discussed the complicated balance between nostalgia and the emotion that ties fans to players with the harsh reality of trying to remain maximally competitive. We pointed to the organizational context of previous Tampa captains and legends Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis exiting in frictive circumstances.
You can check out a sample of the conversation in the video above, and the full episode on either Apple Podcasts or Spotify:
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