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Predators Land Steven Stamkos In Free Agency

Trey Daubert / NHL / July 1, 2024

Predators Land Steven Stamkos In Free Agency

Barry Trotz isn’t screwing around. What rebuild? Nashville is hitting free agency hard and they’ve landed the biggest fish on the market. Steven Stamkos has signed with the Predators. The deal will be worth a total of $32 million over the course of four years.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was the first to report the news. LeBrun says the AAV for Stamkos will be $8 million per season.

We'll see where it ends up officially, but word is Steven Stamkos' deal with the Predators should end up around four years and $8 million AAV per year
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2024

Stamkos, 34, has spent his entire career with the Lightning after Tampa Bay selected him with the first overall pick back in 2008. A season ago, Stamkos scored 40 goals and appears to have plenty of juice left in the tank.

It remains to be seen how Nashville will deploy Stamkos but he could be in line for a top line role while being flanked by Filip Forsberg. That could be a dangerous combination that puts the Preds back in serious contention. That part remains to be seen but clearly Trotz wants this rebuild to be over. It’s certainly better than when Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen ate up all of their cap.

Steven Stamkos ‘Disappointed’ By Lack Of Extension Talk With Lightning

The Lightning appear to have already made their corresponding moves. Mikhail Sergachev got traded and the team also signed Jake Guentzel. Are the Lightning actually better at the end of the day? I’m not sure you can say that. Especially when you consider that the Preds sent Ryan McDonagh to Tampa for draft picks. When you factor all of that in, the Preds pulled off some savvy business here.

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