Predators' Steven Stamkos bids emotional farewell to Tampa Bay

Steven Stamkos bid an emotional farewell to the Tampa Bay community on Monday, penning an article for The Players' Tribune that recounted going from the No. 1 draft pick to team captain to two-time Stanley Cup champion.

"How do you say goodbye to a place like that? To a city that welcomed you as an 18-year-old kid, to the only NHL team you've ever known, to a fan base that's been family? I don't really know, to be honest," he wrote.

Stamkos, 34, signed a four-year, $32 million contract in free agency with the Nashville Predators on July 1 after he and Lightning officials weren't able to come to terms on a new contract.

"I never thought I'd have to do one of these. It doesn't quite feel real that I won't be a Bolt this fall," he wrote in his essay. "But over the past few weeks, I've had this really deep sense of how lucky I was to be one for 16 years."

Stamkos recalled his first day in Tampa, a kid from Ontario taken with the No. 1 overall pick in 2008.

"When I got down to Tampa ... I was nervous. The very first time I walked into the rink it was for a press conference," he said. "I went in through the security entrance where we come in before practices, and I couldn't believe it: There were hundreds of employees lined up all the way down the hall, clapping for me as I walked by. I'll always remember how that made me feel, how welcome I felt. That's really stuck with me. I felt connected to the organization right away. And that connection never left me.

"The bond that the Lightning have with Tampa is a really special thing."

The bond was strengthened when the Lightning won two Stanley Cup titles in 282 days, winning in the "bubble" in the 2019-20 pandemic season and again the following year.

"It was such an amazing time in the city those few years. The Bucs were winning, the Rays were great. 'Champa Bay' was alive. The boat parades, the crowds, the celebrations. That's what it's all about. "

Stamkos said he takes nothing but great memories from his time in Tampa, where he played 1,082 games and tallied 1,137 points (555 goals, 582 assists).

"These past few weeks have been bittersweet. I never thought this day would come," Stamkos wrote. "I did everything I felt I could do to make it work, but sometimes things just happen. It didn't work. And I'd be lying if I said it wasn't heartbreaking. But my family and I, we're human, you know? Tampa is home. It's where our three kids were born ... it's where our memories are. It's always going to mean so much to us."