Stamkos eyes bounce back, Olympics consideration: ‘Would be a dream come true’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Where do I go?

That was the question Steven Stamkos asked himself for most of last season, both on and off the ice.

Stamkos knew the answer in Tampa, where he arrived in 2008 as a fresh-faced teenager and left in 2024 as an icon. He also knew that no amount of preparation would make his transition from Tampa to Nashville any easier. He had to live it.

So perhaps it should not have been so surprising that Stamkos and the Predators struggled in their first season together. The future Hall of Famer scored the second-fewest goals per game (0.33) of his 17-year career, and the Predators were out of the running for a playoff spot by Christmas.

“It affected him,†Predators coach Andrew Brunette said about Stamkos†move to Nashville. “He tried to grind through it.â€

“When youâ€re in one place for so long and you change and things donâ€t go well, thereâ€s always different emotions,†Stamkos said last week. “Honestly, I think just coming into training camp this year was day and night compared to where I was last year, in terms of just mentally.â€

Expectations around the Predators skyrocketed last year after they signed Stamkos (as well as Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei) on the first day of free agency. Nashville, which made a surprise playoff appearance in 2023-24, was a popular dark-horse pick to win the Stanley Cup following its off-season haul.

This season, however, most prognosticators expect the Predators to be back in the draft lottery. (General manager Barry Trotz poked fun at the changing narrative when training camp opened, saying, “We proved the experts wrong two years in a row, and weâ€re hoping to make it three.â€)

“There (were) a lot of external and internal expectations with some of the moves that we made, and (it) didnâ€t go as planned,†Stamkos said. “That just snowballed. I think without the weight of that, maybe that can help our group a little bit. Just go out there and play and not pay attention to what anyone else is saying.â€

The 2-0-1 Predators, who visit the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, are off to a much better start than a year ago, when they lost their first five games in regulation. Stamkos, who is 18 goals from 600 for his career, has one assist and six shots on goal through three games. (Nashville has points in its first three games for the first time in 10 years.)

Stamkos has no shortage of motivation after last season, but in case he needs more, Hockey Canada did not invite him to its Olympic orientation camp in August. Through no fault of his own, Stamkos, 35, has never represented his country at the Winter Games. He suffered a broken leg in November 2013, which prevented him from playing in Sochi, Russia, in February 2014, and the NHL did not participate in 2018 and 2022. (When the league opted out of the Beijing Olympics four years ago, Stamkos was in the midst of a career-best season, which he finished with 106 points.)

“I probably shouldâ€ve played (in) three Olympics already and didnâ€t get a chance to,†Stamkos said. “Itâ€s almost like, ‘Jeez, is this thing never meant to happen?â€â€

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For someone as accomplished as Stamkos, a two-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the greatest goal scorers in league history, his lack of Olympic experience is a glaring omission on his resume.

It will take an unlikely series of events for Stamkos to end up in Italy, so his focus is on helping the Predators become competitive again.

“(The Olympics are) the one bucket-list thing that I havenâ€t been able to do,†Stamkos said. “You have to play your way there. So with how last year went, thereâ€s no freebies in camps like that. You look at the talent that Canada has. I canâ€t be one (whoâ€s) complaining about not getting an invite there because of the season that I had. … Iâ€m not putting any extra stress on that. I want to go out there and just play better than I did last year. If that gets (me) in the mix, great, because it would be a dream come true.â€

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