Report: Red Wings Flubbed Chance To Acquire Stamkos

Things were looking more promising two years ago for the Detroit Red Wings, coming off a dramatic late-season charge to tie for the final Wild Card spot only to lose out on a tiebreaker. It was that summer, 2024, that the Wings were in the driver's seat to win the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes in free agency. Until owner Chris Ilitch refused to spend the money on the 40-goal scorer. 

In 2024, the Detroit Red Wings were reportedly close to signing then-free agent Steven Stamkos, per @cmonarrez 😳

The deal, however, fell apart after Wings CEO and Owner Chris Ilitch was unsure about the move and hesitated to approve the offer to Stamkos 😬 pic.twitter.com/lms3cMgfp0

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) August 15, 2026

Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press reports that Ilitch put the kibosh on the move, as then-hockey ops boss Steve Yzerman was about to woo his former Tampa Bay Lightning star to Detroit. 

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Ilitch’s hesitation in approving big signings cost the Wings Steven Stamkos in 2024.

The legendary Lightning center did wind up bolting the Bolts that summer, taking his talents to the Nashville Predators on a four-year, $8 million AAV deal.  

The Wings, instead, spent their offseason budget that summer on Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrick Kane (re-signing), goalie Cam Talbot, defenseman Erik Gustafsson, and William Lagesson. 

Stamkos went on to have a disappointing first season in Nashville, but bounced back big-time at age 35/36 this past year, with a 42-goal campaign. 

It's actually the second time that Detroit fell short of signing Stamkos. The previous time he was potentially available, in 2016, then-GM Ken Holland made it clear he would love to sign Stamkos in free agency to an eight-year deal. But Yzerman shut down the possibility by re-signing the Tampa superstar to an eight-year extension two days before he was set to enter the market.