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Steven Stamkos has had a fantastic career in Tampa Bay, and as he heads to Nashville, he now opens up on turning down the Maple Leafs in free agency.
This off-season, something that no one expected to ever happen did, when Steven Stamkos, the long-time captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning departed for free agency, despite admitting he would have preferred to remain in Tampa Bay. Now, he’s unveiled another surprise in his letter to the Lightning with the Players Tribune, revealing why in 2016 he turned down an offer to join the fierce rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
«So when I re-signed in 2016, I wanted to finish what we started. And I had this vision of it in my head, right? Like the perfect ending to the story. Leading us through the playoffs in front of our city, lifting the Cup at Amalie, living out childhood dreams. I could see it.»
The revelation shows that it had nothing to do with the pressure, the players already there or the rivalry, but instead wanted to finish what he started in Tampa Bay after the team took him No. 1 overall back in the 2008 NHL Draft. He would indeed do that, as Stamkos captained the team to three Stanley Cup Finals appearances, winning two and becoming a franchise legend.
The Maple Leafs would get another Toronto kid in free agency a few years later in John Tavares, but the team are yet to go on to the Stanley Cup Finals, so this is something that organization desperately wishes went differently.
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