The Tampa Bay Lightning let franchise legend Steven Stamkos walk in free agency, and now they've sent a message with the recent Victor Hedman extension.
The 2024 off-season has been a wild one already for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the biggest move of all was letting the franchise's greatest ever player Steven Stamkos walk to the Nashville Predators.
Now, in the wake of the disrespectful act of letting their active captain walk away in free agency, the team have seemingly sent Stammer a message when they announced the extension of defenseman Victor Hedman.
People were quick to point out that this extension was the exact one handed to Stamkos by the Nashville Predators, and it's hard to see this as just a coincidence.
Victor Hedman has signed an extension with the Lightning, 4 years, 8 million.
This is identical to the contract Steven Stamkos signed with the Nashville Predators yesterday
While the team may not have intended to disrespect Stamkos, the way they handled his free agency and the acquisition of Jake Guentzel raises questions over their intentions, but now, we have a matchup to look forward too in the regular season when he returns to Tampa Bay.