STAMFORD, Conn. — Martin St. Louis knows from experience what Steven Stamkos was feeling and the emotions that poured through him 3 1/2 weeks ago when reality hit that his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning was over.
St. Louis, now the coach of the Montreal Canadiens, also thinks Stamkos will be better for it, more well-rounded and educated in the NHL now that he’s with the Nashville Predators after signing a four-year, $32 million contract on July 1.
That is exactly what St. Louis experienced more than 10 years ago, when the Lightning traded him to the New York Rangers on March 5, 2014, during his 13th season with Tampa Bay.
“It’s tough leaving,” St. Louis said from the Shoulder Check Showcase charity event at Terry Conners Rink here Thursday. “I’m not going to get into how everything was handled. It’s hard to leave, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing for ‘Stammer’ to go and experience something else. It’d be nice to stay in the same place for that long, which he was fortunate to do. What was he, 16 years there? That’s a long time. I think he’s going to look back on his career and I think he’s going to be happy that he experienced something else, and he’s going to a really good situation.”
Stamkos signed a contract with the Predators that wasn’t available to him in Tampa Bay. It ended his 16-season run with the Lightning that started with him being the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft and ended with 10 years as captain, a position he took over from St. Louis when he was traded to the Rangers.
St. Louis said he has spoken to Stamkos since he signed with the Predators. He relayed his experience and how he felt getting traded to the Rangers.
“Definitely different, but at the time very emotional,” St. Louis said. “A lot of changes. His kids are a little bit younger than mine were at the time, but still there’s a lot of changes that come and uncertainties. But I look back at my career, and again I went into a really good situation, a really good team in New York. We fell short but we had the team to win two Cups. It just didn’t happen. He’s going to a team that is going to be in the mix. I told him that I look back on my experience and I’m glad that I did what I did, especially being able to dictate a little bit where you’re going to go.”
The difference, of course, is how they left the Lightning.
St. Louis requested a trade from Tampa Bay and helped facilitate the move to New York by using his no-trade clause.
Stamkos wanted to return to the Lightning, expressing his displeasure before last season that nothing had been done about a new contract. He had hope into late June but he said he felt he was making too many concessions to make a new contract work.
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said he felt there were limits to what the team could do with the 34-year-old because of NHL salary cap implications, and if they went beyond those limits it would impact Tampa Bay’s ability to win the Stanley Cup.
“You have hope until the last minute, and then when you don’t hear anything, or nothing changes, you have to be able to adapt and just make a decision,” Stamkos said July 1 after signing with Nashville. “That’s the toughest part, is trying to hang on to something that maybe isn’t trying to hang on to you.”
St. Louis said he thinks having the summer to get over the hard breakup and get used to his new surroundings will benefit Stamkos.
“For me, the wound was open and I had to go play,” St. Louis said. “It didn’t have time to close. I feel like he’s come around and I think he’s excited for what’s coming for him.
“He goes into a really good situation.”
