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Steven Stamkos glad 'stressful' free agency process is over

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The sleepless nights were there for Steven Stamkos. As he approached unrestricted free agency for the first time in his NHL career, he couldn’t help but allow thoughts of potentially playing somewhere other than Tampa slip into his head.

But at the end of the day, he was able to stick with the intentions he’d stated all along and re-sign with the Lightning.

“It’s been a great eight years that I’ve been there,” Stamkos said during a Thursday conference call with reporters. “I grew up as a kid there and this team is on the verge of hopefully competing for Stanley Cups for years to come. Being the captain and being a leader of that team I felt in my heart that that was always the place I wanted to stay. I know the process took a lot longer than maybe both parties would have liked, but it was an experience, and every decision in life you just want to make the best decision at the end of the day.”

While he didn’t want to get into specifics about the various meetings he had with other suitors over the last week, Stamkos said that he and his camp wanted to be as informed as possible before making a final decision. The term was going to be there – either seven or eight years – and the dollar amount was going to be high depending on the final destination, but what he’d experienced with the Lightning over the last eight seasons coupled with the contender that GM Steve Yzerman has built helped sway his decision.

“For me, it was just following your heart and being loyal to an organization that has brought me up and has made me the player and the person that I am today,” he said.

The talk about Stamkos’s future has been a huge topic in the hockey world since last summer. As each day passed without an extension being signed the rumors swirled. The daily questions followed by Yzerman issuing a statement on Feb. 15 that he wouldn’t be trading the Lightning captain only further fueled speculation about a possible exit.

As July 1 came closer and closer on the calendar and a decision needed to be made, it all began to weigh on Stamkos.

“It was a very tough decision. It truly was,” he said. “I can’t sit here and say this past week has been fun. I’m sure everyone experiences different things when they go through free agency and through the process, but it was pretty stressful to be honest. I’m glad it’s over with. I’m very happy with my decision and I’m looking forward to winning a lot in Tampa.”

With Stamkos signed, Yzerman can now look toward this summer and next in keeping his core group together. Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov (both restricted free agents) are due new deals, while Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin, Andrei Vasilevskiy (RFAs in 2017) and Victor Hedman (UFA, 2017) will be looking for extensions and raises over the next year.

“Stammer’s contract will allow us to keep the necessary pieces and necessary players that will allow us to be competitive,” Yzerman said on Wednesday, “and if we have to make some decisions based on the cap we, will do that and we will look, whether it’s through our own system to replace players or go elsewhere and try to find them. Every team is making the same decisions we are.”

Yzerman will have to do some salary cap gymnastics to fit all those of players under the salary cap — whatever it rises or sinks to over the next few years — while trying to keeping Tampa competitive.

Hometown discounts? Maybe some of those Lightning players will take one in order to stay and continue to compete for the Cup, but Stamkos would understand if there are some goodbyes to be said in his future.

“I can’t sit here and say my intention is to send a message to those people,” he said. “In this business, I’m not one to judge people on the decisions they make with regards to the financial aspect of it.

“No matter what decision players make, especially when they’re your teammates and friends, you’re going to support the decision.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!