Could Steven Stamkos Leave Nashville?
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was on Sirius XM NHL Network on Wednesday and was asked about Steven Stamkos’ struggles in Nashville, and whether he could be on the road.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
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Scott Laughlin: “Hey, Friedge, we’re wrapping this up for you. And this has kind of snuck up on some people, and for some people they just noticed that the Steven Stamkos regression continues, but he’s 25 games away from 1,200, he’s 17 goals away from 600 career goals. And yet last night (Tuesday night and every night now), you were like, okay, he’s facing his former team, this is going to happen again.” This will get him engaged. It doesn’t happen.
He’s now gone six consecutive games without a point, and he has one goal and two points in his first 12 games this season. Do you have any idea what happened to Stamkos? Goes down there. Is it just the support pitching and lack of depth in the middle of the ice? Or what is it that is? Or maybe it’s Father Time, Fridge. I mean, it’s going to be 36 in February. What is it about Stamkos that has seen him score just once with two points in the first twelve games?
Elliotte Friedman: “You know what? I just think it’s pretty simple. It just hasn’t worked. I think that’s the simplest way to put it. I think some of it, there’s no doubt about it, is like, remember, Stamkos is a great player with a great shot. In Tampa, he had his place on the power play, and he had an absolute magician feeding him, yeah.”
And one of the things about guys who are as good scorers as they are is you need someone who can give you that, and the fit wasn’t good there and much to a lot of people’s surprise, I think, including mine. I think you should always take some responsibility yourself. The problems are never just one way. It’s always a two-way street.
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I know that as frustrated as he was, sometimes they were frustrated too. And I think ultimately if this doesn’t get better, there will be conversations between the player and the team about what we can do here. He has two years left. It’s a large number, but not an unmanageable number. But I do think that at some point there will probably have to be conversations about what our solutions are, because it’s clear that it’s not working.
At least at this point there is always time to change it. It doesn’t work for either party. Like the other thing is that his shot speeds are very slow. Yeah, so I mean, it fits with Scott, what you’re talking about. If you don’t shoot as much, you probably won’t score as much.
But I think sometimes, for me, like that’s the bigger question because all scorers go through droughts, but if you’re not even shooting that much, that probably tells you all you need to know.
NHL Rumors.com Note: As previously written on NHLRumors.com, this does not work. It hasn’t worked since day one when the Predators under Barry Trotz tried to bring in two scorers without playmakers.
Friedman on 32 Thoughts on Friday, following up on the statement earlier this week on NHL Network Radio: “It’s not necessarily a trade, because the trade might not even be worth it for Nashville or Stamkos. But if we’re not on track already, it could happen soon.”
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We saw that when Ryan McDonagh was in Nashville, he wasn’t fully committed to Nashville. He did his best, but mentally wanted to be in Tampa Bay with the Lightning. The same goes for Stamkos here. If anyone wants to admit it publicly, Stamkos plans to be back in Tampa Bay. That’s where he wants to end his career.
De Bliksem saw the player deteriorate, but would have kept him. They get it at a discount; they will bring him back with the talent they have.
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