St. Louis finds the positive in Stamkos' exit from Tampa

In a conversation with Dan Rosen of NHL.com on Thursday , the current head coach of the Montreal Canadiens believes Steven Stamkos will one day be glad he got the opportunity to play for another franchise.

"It's tough leaving," St. Louis said at the Shoulder Check Showcase charity event. "I'm not going to get into how everything was handled. It's hard to leave, but I don't think it's a bad thing for Stammer to go and experience something else. It'd be nice to stay in the same place for that long, which he was fortunate to do. What was he, 16 years there? That's a long time. I think he's going to look back on his career and I think he's going to be happy that he experienced something else, and he's going to a really good situation."

St. Louis spent six seasons with Stamkos, who ultimately replaced him as the team's captain after he was traded to the New York Rangers on March 5, 2014.

Stamkos currently holds the Lightning franchise record with 555 goals, 1,137 points, and 1,082 games played during his tenure. He posted 40 goals and 81 points in 79 games last season, adding five goals and an assist in the first-round of the playoffs against the Panthers.

The longtime captain certainly expressed his desire to stay, but ultimately the two parties weren’t able to find common ground. On July 1st, he joined the Predators on a four-year, $32 million deal.

“What would have worked in Tampa and what works here Nashville are two completely different situations. I think when you're in one place for a really long time, you're always trying to make it work and stay and there's concessions from both sides," Stamkos said in his first media availability with Nashville.

St. Louis said he has spoken to Stamkos since signing with the Predators. He compared the situation to how he felt after being traded to the Rangers, although the two situations were uniquely different. St. Louis requested a trade from Tampa and helped facilitate the move to New York.

"Definitely different, but at the same time very emotional. A lot of changes,” St. Louis said. "His kids are a little bit younger than mine were at the time, but still there's a lot of changes that come and uncertainties. But I look back at my career, and again I went into a really good situation, a really good team in New York. We fell short but we had the team to win two Cups. It just didn't happen. He's going to a team that is going to be in the mix. I told him that I look back on my experience and I'm glad that I did what I did, especially being able to dictate a little bit where you're going to go."

Stamkos said he still had hope a deal would get done going into late June, but felt he was making too many concessions to make a new contract work.

"You have hope until the last minute, and then when you don't hear anything, or nothing changes, you have to be able to adapt and just make a decision. That's the toughest part, is trying to hang on to something that maybe isn’t trying to hang on to you,” Stamkos said after signing with Nashville.

Lightning GM Julien BriseBois said he felt there were limits to what the team could offer the longtime captain due to cap implications as they aim to win another Stanley Cup. Althougth not confirmed, the offer was reported to be somewhere around $3 to 3.5 million.

St. Louis believes having the summer to process the situation and get used to his new environment will be beneficial for Stamkos.

"For me, the wound was open and I had to go play. It didn't have time to close. I feel like he's come around and I think he's excited for what's coming for him. He’s going into a really good situation."