Detroit Red Wings Owner screws the team; Forces them to miss out on Steven Stamkos in free agency
The Detroit Red Wings had a fairly quiet off-season, with some smaller veteran moves, but according to a report, they almost landed Steven Stamkos.
This past off-season, Steven Stamkos landed with the Nashville Predators in a shock move that saw the long-time Lightning captain leave Tampa Bay for the first time in his career.
Unsurprisingly, given that he tallied 40 goals and 81 points a season ago, there was great demand for Stamkos, with the final decision in his free agency coming down to Nashville and Detroit.
Ultimately he chose Nashville, but according to a recent report, the Red Wings were in it until the end before a shock move from Detroit's owner cost them any chance at landing Stamkos.
According to a report, GM Steve Yzerman offered Stamkos the exact same deal as the Predators did over three seasons, with Nashville deciding to add another year on to their offer.
While Yzerman planned to match the deal, he called owner Chris Ilitch to confirm, to which the owner told him he would call him back with the decision that could have changed the fortunes of Detroit.
Unfortunately, he never got back to Yzerman, and given the time crunch of a high-profile free agent, this ultimately led to the star forward ending up in Nashville.
This is one of the most shocking free agent fumbles we've seen in recent years in the NHL, as Stamkos would have changed the entire organization in Detroit, and with the team looking to end their lengthy playoff drought, he could have been the driving force behind not only that but the improvement of their rising stars.
Through 20 games this season however, the former captain of the Lightning has struggled with just 6 goals and 10 points, but even after landing Vladimir Tarasenko and seeing Stammer's slow start, it's safe to say that Detroit would have loved his services.
| POLL | ||
Would the Detroit Red Wings be a Stanley Cup contender with Steven Stamkos? | ||
| Yes | 12 | 16.9 % |
| No | 59 | 83.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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