Remembering NHL’s messiest divorces ahead of Steven Stamkos’ return to Tampa

Credit: Casey Gower-Imagn Images

Steven Stamkos said all the right things after his shocking free agency departure from the Tampa Bay Lightning four months ago, but you’d forgive him if he were a bit sour toward his old employers ahead of their reunion tomorrow night.

Despite Stamkos’s third-consecutive season with at least 34 goals and 81 points, Tampa GM Julien BriseBois tabled contract negotiations until after the season, when he approached his captain in June with an offer rumored to pay as little as $3 million AAV after 17 years and 556 goals.

The message was as subtle as a gold watch and a kick in the rear. Brisebois hammered the final nail into the coffin by trading for Jake Guentzel’s negotiating rights on June 30, and the next day, Stamkos was a Nashville Predator.

So far, Tampa’s cold-blooded dismissal of its greatest player has worked like a charm. Through the first month of the season, Guentzel, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov are shredding the league on the Lightning’s top line (combined 15 G, 28 P in 24 GP) while Stamkos (1 G, -7 in 8 GP) and his would-be superteam languish in the Central Division basement.

There’s a lot of hockey left, but it looks like BriseBois got the house, the car, and the coin collection in this divorce. His Lightning aren’t the first team to split from a star player in ugly fashion, but does it usually go this well? Let’s look back at a few of the messiest splits in league history to find out.

1982: Darryl Sittler v. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Case: The blustering, self-styled celebrity owner of the Maple Leafs, Harold Ballard took primary control of the franchise after his business partner Stafford Smythe’s death in late 1971 and quickly set about stripping the once-proud organization of its dignity and sanity.

Despite their owner’s incompetence, the Leafs soon returned to contention thanks to the brilliant scouting of GM Jim Gregory. Gregory brought Hall-of-Famers Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming, and Lanny MacDonald to Toronto, and the Maple Leafs boasted one of the league’s best rosters by the time the Canadiens turned them away in the 1978 Conference Final. Sadly, Sittler spent too much energy protecting his team from Ballard’s abuses to advance further.

His standing within the NHLPA made Sittler an obvious target for Ballard and incoming GM Punch Imlach, the dusty old drill sergeant who led the Leafs to four championships in the 1960s. Ballard and Imlach wanted to make an example out of the outspoken Sittler just as they had out of Dave Keon and Frank Mahovolich, respectively, but the captain’s no-trade clause meant they would have to pay him $500,000 to get him off the team.

The ever-classy Imlach found a workaround by shipping Sittler’s friend MacDonald (and his pregnant wife) to the lowly Colorado Rockies four days after Christmas in 1979. Two years later, a disgusted Sittler finally agreed to forgo compensation to escape Maple Leaf Gardens.

The Settlement: The Toronto Maple Leafs traded Darryl Sittler to the Philadelphia Flyers for Rich Costello, Ken Strong, and Hartford’s second-round pick in 1982 (Peter Ihnačák) on Jan. 20, 1982.

The Verdict: The Maple Leafs’ public peeing contest (this is a family site) with Sittler tanked his trade value, and Ballard’s unwillingness to buy him out of his NTC scuttled far more enticing offers years earlier.

Ballard’s preoccupation with the good old days of Imlach’s 1960s dynasty cost him his best chance at another Cup, and the Maple Leafs wouldn’t manage another winning season during his lifetime. That makes them losers in this breakup, but it doesn’t mean Sittler came away clean.

The aging Flyers were eliminated in the first round during all three of his postseasons with the club before newly minted GM Bobby Clarke traded Sittler to Detroit on the day he was to succeed him as captain.

1987: Paul Coffey v. Edmonton Oilers

The Case: Before the salary cap, keeping star players meant paying them like star players. That was an expensive proposition for a 1987 Oilers team that featured seven Hall-of-Famers including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Paul Coffey who had just won their third Stanley Cup. The organization kept costs down by locking its stars into long-term contracts that quickly became bargains, but it was only a matter of time before they got antsy.

Coffey, who had won a pair of Norris Trophies in the preceding seasons, was the first to grow discontent. The superstar blueliner was making less than half the salary of Ray Bourque, his primary rival for award consideration, and decided to force the Oilers back to the negotiating table by holding out to start the 1987-88 season.

Sather was in an impossible position. If he didn’t pay Coffey, he would lose the most dangerous offensive defenseman in the sport. If he did, it was only a matter of time before Messier, Kurri, and the rest would come to him with their hands held out.

In the end, team owner Peter Pocklington made Sather’s decision for him by publicly questioning Coffey’s toughness, citing his lack of “intestinal fortitude” as a sticking point in the negotiations. Wounded, Coffey vowed he’d never play for the Oilers again.

The Settlement: The Edmonton Oilers traded Coffey, Dave Hunter, and Wayne Van Dorp to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha, and Chris Joseph on Nov. 24, 1987.

The Verdict: Though Oilers fetched a decent return for Coffey that included sniper Craig Simpson (185 G in 419 GP for EDM), the fallout of his holdout would be a thorn in Sather and Pocklington’s side for years to come. Even if you buy that Gretzky’s infamous trade to L.A. in the summer of 1988 wasn’t about money, the rest of the dynasty’s collapse was.

*_{Coffey finally returned to Edmonton last season … as a coach. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports}*

After Messier led the Oilers to a fifth Stanley Cup in 1990, he, along with Kurri, Esa Tikkanen, and Kevin Lowe, would soon adopt Coffey’s “pay me or trade me” stance. The answer from Pocklington was always the same, and by 1994-95, goaltender Bill Ranford and tough guy Kelly Buchberger were the only champions left in Edmonton.

Coffey had to wait a few seasons for his talented but frustrating Penguins to put it all together, but in 1991, Mario Lemieux and Tom Barrasso helped him win a fourth ring. Coffey spent the rest of his career bouncing around a who’s who of ‘90s contenders (the Kings, Red Wings, and Flyers, to name a few), never without handsome compensation.

1995: Patrick Roy v. Montreal Canadiens

The Case: By the time he turned 30 in October of 1995, goaltender Patrick Roy was already a god in Montreal. His Conn Smythe, Stanley Cup-winning performances in the 1986 and 1993 playoffs made him a living legend, but his mythic status wasn’t enough to protect the job of his head coach and confidant Jacques Demers after an 0-5 start to the 1995-96 season.

Mario Tremblay, an abrasive middle-six sniper in the Canadiens’ heyday and briefly a teammate of a young Roy, was Demers’s unlikely successor. Greenhorn GM Rejean Houle (another role player from the glory days) felt Tremblay’s feistiness would wake up the underachieving roster. To do that, the rookie coach would have to get Roy in line.

‘Saint Patrick’ did not take kindly to being made an example after years of Demers’s coddling, and his temper put him at odds with his new coach early and often. To establish himself as the top dog in the Canadiens’ locker room, Tremblay decided he would teach his temperamental superstar a lesson.

On Dec. 2, the rookie bench boss sent Roy back onto the ice after the high-powered Detroit Red Wings had already shredded him for five goals in the first period. When Tremblay finally pulled the plug on the home-ice humiliation after the deficit ballooned to 9-1, the legendary netminder marched past his coach to inform the Habs brass he’d never play for the Canadiens again.

The Settlement: The Montreal Canadiens traded Patrick Roy and Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Ručinský, and Andrei Kovalenko on Dec. 6, 1995.

The Verdict: There’s a real case to be made that Houle made the worst deal in NHL history here. Never mind that they shipped out the man who had single-handedly extended the Canadiens’ tradition of excellence beyond the 1970s; the real disaster here is the return.

Kovalenko (who only lasted a year in Montreal) and Ručinský were decent middle-six forwards, and Thibault was a talented young goalie doomed to crumble under the weight of Roy’s legacy. To make matters worse, Houle bizarrely included captain Mike Keane as a sweetener, as if the Avs needed extra motivation to trade for one of the greatest players ever.

Roy became the first and, so far, only three-time Conn Smythe winner seven months later as the Avalanche dispatched the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Final. In an added twist of the knife, the Avs retained much of the DNA of the Quebec Nordiques, the Canadiens’ archrivals and Roy’s childhood favorite team.

2001: Pittsburgh Penguins v. Jaromir Jagr

The Case: Jaromir Jagr’s breakup with the Penguins isn’t quite as infamous as the Alexei Yashin and Eric Lindros sagas from the summer of 2001, but that doesn’t mean it came without drama, bruised egos, and bad blood.

By the time he fell out with his original club, Jagr was the best player in the world and had been since the injury-induced retirement of his friend and mentor Mario Lemieux in 1997. Still, it wasn’t lost on anyone in Western PA that the team was not the powerhouse it had been with Lemieux at the helm despite the additions of All-Stars Alexei Kovalev and Kevin Hatcher.

By 2000-01 the pressure of succeeding Lemieux was getting to Jagr, and it seemed not even the appointment of Czech national hero Ivan Hlinka as coach could fix his melancholy. The then 28-year-old superstar outwardly sulked about his “slow” start (a measly 29 P in 28 GP), famously lamenting that he was “dying alive here” before bluffing the team with a trade request and even threatening retirement.

*Jaromir Jagr was all smiles in his return to the Steel City last year, but it was his gloominess that ended his initial tenure as a Penguin. © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports*

Jagr’s identity crisis reached a boil when Lemieux returned from retirement near the turn of the year. With the greatest player in franchise history (and, oh yeah, the owner of said franchise) back in the lineup, the ‘C’ on Jagr’s chest stuck out like a sore thumb. The mercurial winger eventually rounded into form to claim a fourth-consecutive Art Ross, but his hound dog act and the team’s financial woes meant something had to give.

The Settlement: The Pittsburgh Penguins traded Jaromir Jagr and František Kučera to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk on July 11, 2001.

The Verdict: The Penguins traded the best player in the world to a division rival for the seventh (Beech), 29th (Sivek), and 34th (Lupaschuk) overall picks from 1999, none of whom panned out. That’s “worst trade ever” territory, so why isn’t the return regarded with the same disgust as Roy’s?

Context is everything, and in the years between Lemieux’s initial retirement and comeback, the Penguins, unable to honor millions of dollars in deferred salaries, filed for bankruptcy. They would have been doomed to relocation if Lemieux hadn’t converted the franchise’s $30-million debt to him into equity in the team. Still, the Pens weren’t exactly flush by ‘01, and Jagr’s antics gave them an out from his $10-million salary.

The Penguins bottomed out hard in the ensuing years, drafting Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang from 2003-05 as Jagr’s uninspired stint in D.C. ended in another trade by 2004. Two decades and three Cups later, the decision to blow it up seems to have worked out OK for Pittsburgh.

2014: Martin St. Louis v. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Case: By 2014, Martin St. Louis had long been the best player in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s relatively brief history, but had only recently become captain after the club bought out Vincent Lecavalier the previous summer. The newfound responsibility didn’t seem to bother the diminutive superstar, who had won the Art Ross and Lady Byng trophies the season prior, nor did the ravages of time; the 38-year-old had 25 goals and 56 points in 58 games when the season paused to accommodate the Sochi Olympics.

The ‘14 Games were especially significant to St. Louis, who had nothing left to achieve in the sport save for winning gold with his country. His first foray into Olympic hockey ended in national embarrassment when the Canadians finished in seventh place in 2006 and Team Canada head honcho Steve Yzerman left him hanging ahead of 2010 and the Golden Goal.

Yzerman took over as GM of the Lightning shortly after the 2010 Olympics, so St. Louis might have assumed a little well-earned favoritism would get him on the plane to Sochi. No dice; the initial roster prioritized brawnier veterans like Rick Nash and Patrick Marleau.

When teammate Stamkos went down hurt, St. Louis finally got the call, but the initial snub left him resentful of Yzerman. “What’s between me and Steve is between me and Steve,” St. Louis, who played sparingly en route to his long-awaited gold, said. “Nobody needs to know about that.” We can fill in the blanks; St. Louis quickly requested a trade to the New York Rangers after he returned stateside.

The Settlement: The Tampa Bay Lightning traded Martin St. Louis and a conditional second-round pick in 2015 to the New York Rangers for Ryan Callahan and New York’s first-round picks in 2014 and 2015.

The Verdict: Netting crafty two-way winger Ryan Callahan, the Rangers captain, for a player a decade older than him should have been a big win in and of itself for the Lightning, but ‘Cally’ struggled to stay on the ice after racking up 54 points in 2014-15.

The picks didn’t turn into much, either, until Yzerman used a third-rounder he acquired by trading down in 2015 to take center Anthony Cirelli, a major cog in the Tampa teams that won back-to-back Cups from 2020-21. St. Louis probably could have made Team Canada without all the drama, but his anger at ‘Stevie Wonder’ is still paying dividends for the Lightning today; Cirelli, a perennial Selke contender, is off to the best offensive start of his career (10 P in 8 GP).

St. Louis weathered a rough start on Broadway to lead the Blueshirts in playoff goals as they reached the Stanley Cup Final and did just enough as a Ranger to justify his price tag. He has since reconciled with the Lightning, but between St. Louis, Lecavalier, and Stamkos, there’s an awful lot of reconciling going on in Tampa. Should Victor Hedman be worried?

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