Julien BriseBois | Press Conference 7.1.24

Julien BriseBois | Press Conference 7.1.24

everyone Julie these all working right I’d like to start off by saying the obvious uh I know that it is disappointing that I was not able to come to terms with stepen stos on a contract to keep him within the organization I know the fans are disappointed um I know Steven’s disappointed and I’m disappointed um like everyone I wanted stammer to stay in Tampa and finish his career with the lightning uh but like for every player there were also limits I felt like we we had limits that I felt like were the limits that we could allocate in terms of c space uh to him and I obviously stammer is sincere in all of his statements saying that he wanted to stay in Tampa that shouldn’t be questioned he definitely wanted to stay in Tampa but at the same time it was clear throughout our process that he also had Financial expectations that he expected us to meet and ultimately I I felt and made the decision that if I agreed to the terms that he wanted in order to get a deal done I would not be putting ourselves in the best position to chase championships going forward and ultimately uh we need to make decisions that are in the best interest of the team success um I I understand that uh him signing Stephen signing with uh the natural Predators today is going to overshadow uh any of the changes that have taken place within our organization in the last few weeks in the last few days uh but as I look ahead uh I really like uh and I’m excited by what I see as taking shape for our organization going forward today we signed Jake gunel a 29-year-old star player in his prime arguably the most coveted free agent on the unrestricted free agent Market this summer um a few weeks ago we brought back Ryan mcdna who is still one of the best defensive defenseman and leaders in the NHL and who’s under contract for two years over the weekend we acquired uh JJ Moser who just turned 24 this month uh already a top four defenseman in the NHL and I don’t think he’s even entered his prime uh we acquired Connor geeki uh 20-year-old entering the professional ranks this season he’s got three years of entry-level contract he’s got size he plays a premium position he’s uh without a doubt the highest profile we’ve had in terms of highest profile Prospect we’ve had for a number of years here um so when I look at at the end result of all that I believe that we are a a better defensive team and a deeper team and that makes us a better team in the short term um I believe we got younger uh with players that are either in their Prime playing a big that are going to be playing a big role on our team this coming season uh players uh or a prospect that has added uh some luster to our our Prospect Pipeline and Connor geeki uh who as recently as two years ago was the 11 selection in the NHL draft and who has continued to develop and progress progress since then so we are a a younger team and and and we have a better Pipeline and that means that in the long term we’ve also improved our odds of having success so over the last few weeks the end result is that we’ve improved our team and our odds of success both in the short term and in the long term um before I throw it out to questions um I uh I would like to pretty much at what I told Stephen last night when we spoke on the phone I wish him nothing but success uh in Nashville um I wish him and his family nothing but happiness uh I thank him for his years of service uh everything I said at our year- end uh press conference I met at I meant at the time and I still think today um he was a consumate professional will continue to be so great Captain um the mark that he is leaving in on this organization but in this community as well is indelible first B Hall of Famer iconic shot number of iconic goals um I wish him nothing but happiness and and he will be missed question jul jul obious you touch on this but I mean obviously I think you know that there’s a lot of emotion today and a l lot of fans are you obviously you know upset that Stephen can’t continue to be here um I mean what what would you say to those to those fans if you had you just a voice board directly to them who have been so connected to a player that they felt that they can relate to for for so many years here you know well we love our fans because they’re passionate and and it’s the emotion that they bring to our game uh that that is their biggest contribution that’s why we that’s why we value them so much so I I I I’m not going to tell them not to feel what they feel uh and I understand their disappointment I am disappointed we all are disappointed but ultimately at the end of the day we need to make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization and and when I say that I mean the best interest of us remaining competitive and chasing championships and having on I success and that’s what I feel like I did this week Julian just how do you feel like the negotiations this process went with Stephen from even the you know really this the start of last year where he you know he made the comments at training camp that he wasn’t reached out for the extension and so on and so forth with how this was all handled I don’t think we’re going to gain much by going play bypl here especially right now because everything is raw and everyone is so emotional um and I understand that I will say ultimately there were scenarios uh and different structur and and ways to put a contract together that were I felt in the best interest of the organization there were various ones that could have worked out Stephen had a number of uh I’m sure I know from talking with him a number of um contracts that could have worked for him but ultimately there was no overlap and that’s why we didn’t get a deal done how how far in just broad terms I don’t know if it’s all relative but far enough that we didn’t get a deal done jul you guys have done a really good job of as an organization of you know avoiding that get signing players or extending players before they reach that that final year you know was there something I know you said I think the last time we talked to you you know you were taking a risk by not engaging him last summer um what was maybe different in in in that case in that scenario of I mean was it the cap stuff was it I think there were a number of of uh factors but I think first and foremost uh we’ve gone we’ve gone out and and tried not always been successful to extend players you know after their first contract well usually after their first contract we kind of let it lapse uh but after their second contract to set up their third contract we go to them a year early the first player was Stephen himself like he’s the first in the line of of players that kind of with whom he set up this structure and this this uh uh way of doing things and then you know Victor was next and then cooch and so forth and so on now um Stephen’s up for a fort contract if you look at the last uh five years give take since the cap kind of got flat players uh that that were either sure ballot H first sure ballot Hall of Famers like Stephen or players are going to get consideration for the Hall of Fame uh that were 34 years old or older that were up for their forth contract I think only one signed a deal a year early and it’s onte Kopitar uh the only other one that I found that uh signed before his previous contract had lapsed was Nicholas Backstrom who signed in January right before the contracts laps but if you look at the others Patric berson Alex oetkin Genny Malin Christopher leang um Joe pavelski clo jiru they all some of them Sav with their team and sign extensions but it was after their contract elaps some like stepen ended up signing somewhere else so the exception is is an Kopitar and uh you know we’re far far far along with Victor here he will probably be the second exception uh it’s not the other way it’s not the other way around I think the circumstances were just different the Cap’s been flat for a long time and cap space gets allocated to young players and uh you mentioning Victor you are confident that you will be able to sign which extension yeah I talked to Victor this morning I talked to his agent uh a couple times over the last uh few days uh we knew today would be a big day uh so we kind of took a little bit of a break uh we’ll reconvene later and uh it’s trending in the right direction H how much of a role did did uh Mr vinnick play in the negotiations he didn’t just that make the team better or you know there’s a business side with the fans loving stamp Coast uh well he he leaves those decisions to me I have conversations with him he had no active role in uh the negotiations I kept him AB breasted all along uh the Mandate that he gives me and I make decisions based on that mandate is build a team that’s going to be competitive year in year out because that’s the best odds we have of winning a cup at some point and that’s the objective Julian for for you and his job um how hard is it for you to balance the emotional which sure you know you’re the one Taps the steam as well for all these years uh with the logical and what you’re kind of looking at to keep the cup run going and how do you balance that because you you are going to be the the face of the emotional for this this answer like I think today what I’m feeling is way less important than what Stephen’s feeling I’m happy he’s getting a great opportunity in Nashville it’s a great organization he got a great contract he’s got friends on that team it’s on July 1 it’s really hard to keep track of what’s going on but I I believe Nashville signed a number of players this year uh this today and they’re going to be a really competitive team so I’m really happy for him he’s going to a good place but today like it’s not about my emotions it’s about the fans emotions and Stephen’s emotions well just as handling that that role that you have comes with the job losing a leader losing a captain as far as the organization goes do you know any players that you would like to step up to become that next leader right now yeah well Stephen is a fabulous leader like and and fabulous leader fabulous player and I would say the best spokesperson maybe in the league for an organization like he’s Inc incredibly eloquent uh authentic honest thoughtful insightful uh that that is a quality he really brought to the table amongst the many qualities brought to the table but in terms of leadership of a hockey team it’s never about one person it’s always even with Stephen as the captain it’s a group group of leaders and we have a lot of guys have been part of that leadership group for a number of years and they will continue to be leaders on this team and we have young players that are growing in that role and I’m assuming they’re going to play a bigger role going forward Julian um you talked the other day about you know obviously trying to get get your forward group improve the forward group you know obviously you get gel um I think you still only have nine near nine or 10 forwards under 10 I think yeah um we’re working on a few others where do you stand now in terms of adding uh my phone has been humming since I’ve been sing here we’re working on a few things uh hopefully they come to fruition and we’re we’ll be in a position to announce them tonight tomorrow in the coming days J with the success that this team’s had 10 15 years with you know in-house guys and the guys that were part of that core that made up the cup winning teams you know a lot of your work was done trying to fit things in with the cap extend guys things like that but this year you had an opportunity to really have cap space to make a significant Big Ticket signing in the free agency what was it about Jake that caught your ey that you want him to be that guy um we feel in the last few years like in terms of fit for what we were looking for Jake is probably as high of the perfect perfect fit as we’re going to find highly competitive High emotional U hockey IQ uh high level of skill makes plays uh competes all over the ice makes plays all over the Ice uh has ability to finish uh big game player like he’s a bolt who happened to not have been playing for the bolts in the past and today we kind of remediated that and going forward he’s going to play for the lightning the other thing is 29 in his prime uh there’s a lot of value in that as well good thank you everybody exra e

General Manager Julien BriseBois meets with the media following Day 1 of Free Agency.

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