Blake Coleman and his wife Jordan have spent the past few weeks in Tampa with their two daughters, Charlie and Carson, trying to soak it all in.
They’re slowly packing up their rental home, but have no idea where they’re headed yet.
Coleman, 29, is due to become a highly sought-after unrestricted free agent on Wednesday at noon. He’s drawn significant interest from teams, but all he knows is that he’s almost assuredly leaving Tampa Bay.
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“It’s an exciting time for us,” Coleman said Tuesday. “But it’s also a shock to the system when you have the unknowns, a couple young kids, and you’re just trying to find out what the next chapter is going to look like. I just don’t know yet.”
Coleman, acquired from the Devils at the 2020 trade deadline for a first-round pick and top prospect Nolan Foote, has had a storybook run in Tampa Bay. Both of his daughters were born here, and he won two Stanley Cups.
“We’re truly blessed,” he said. Coleman said “in a perfect world,” he and the Lightning would have loved a reunion, but GM Julien BriseBois made it clear from the start of the offseason that he couldn’t afford him.
“He knows there’s zero possibility of re-signing Blake,” agent Stephen Bartlett told The Athletic. “To his credit, he wasn’t blowing smoke or tiring to convince us to hold on, like something miraculous is going to change. There’s just no way.”
Coleman has played on a bargain contract ($1.8 million) the past three seasons, and this is a very important deal for him, one that can set up his family for life. Watching linemates Barclay Goodrow (signing for six years with Rangers) and Yanni Gourde (picked by Seattle) leave “made it feel more real” that the end is near.
Our Dom Luszczyszyn projects that Coleman’s next contract could be $4.7 million AAV for four years.
“I didn’t really imagine a world where all three of us would be gone after winning a second Cup,” Coleman said. “It’s just the nature of the beast. ‘Goody,’ in my opinion, got what he deserved. There’s a lot of people, keyboard warriors out there (who criticized the contract), but they’re not in our shoes. Yanni is going to be a big part of that team and he deserves to be in a leadership role like that. It’s hard for him to pick up his life and go, and I know how he’s feeling.
“But it’s weird to think that all of us could be gone.”
The Lightning didn’t trade Coleman’s rights to anyone, but the veteran winger said BriseBois has been understanding in allowing him to see what was out there. Coleman said there’s been quite a bit of interest from a good number of teams, and his “frontrunner” has changed a handful of times.
“The most intriguing are teams that are competitive,” Coleman said. “After you get a taste of winning Cups, it’s in your blood, you want to win some more.”
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Coleman is having a custom home built in his hometown of Plano, Texas, and it should be finished by the end of the year. Could a reunion with the Stars be a possibility?
“We love our hometown and there are some things that are appealing about Dallas,” Coleman said. “The family aspect and things like that. At the same time, this is a unique time for my family in a sense that, I make good money, and I’m aware it’s great money in the grand scheme of life. But this is definitely our opportunity to be rewarded for the hard work we put in. I think first and foremost what makes the most sense for setting up my kids. Dallas is somewhere we’d definitely entertain, they’re in consideration.”
Seattle was the only team that was able to talk contract with Coleman during their exclusive window. “It would be exciting,” he said. “They’ve already got one of my linemates out there.”
Bartlett reiterated teams aren’t allowed to make offers until the UFA window opens on Wednesday (they can only get a “general sense” of what is out there), but he expects multiple offers to come Coleman’s direction.
“I don’t think there’s a team in the league that doesn’t have interest,” Bartlett said. “The question is, do they have interest in money? Blake is going to be highly sought after. This is his year to maximize his contract. I don’t think at this stage of your career, you’ve waited and been a bargain the last three years, that you’re going to go for just any contract.”
Coleman had a bunch of his family at the boat parade and thought how hard it would be for them to leave. There were many special moments on the ice, like his goal in the Cup clincher against Dallas last fall and his diving goal against the Canadiens in Game 2.
But there were also countless memories off the ice and around town.
“This has been like a little fairytale,” Coleman said. “When the trade happened, we were 10 days away from having a baby. Jersey was all we knew. There was a little bit of fear of how life was going to change. But it’s been amazing. Both girls were born here, both years ended up with a Cup. A special, special time.
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“We loved the fans, and they treated us well. We felt like we were at home here. It’s going to be hard to move on if that’s what’s in the cards. It’s just going to be a great period of our lives to look back on and reflect.
Coleman recalled several favorite moments. There was when, after Coleman’s turnover in overtime led to a Game 6 loss on Long Island in the semifinals, Cooper approached him in the hotel and told him to “not lose an ounce of sleep” over it.
“He reminded me why I’d be a reason we’d be able to win the Cup again,” Coleman said. “Then I was top two or three in ice time the next game. That support meant a lot.”
Then there was Steven Stamkos and Ryan McDonagh’s speech the morning of Game 7 against the Islanders, where the veteran leaders told the group that they were “too good to let this go.” They called this season the “last day of school” due to the cap crunch, with several players expected to leave (and already have).
“It was a rallying point for our team,” Coleman said. “Just a reminder that these moments don’t come around too often, so don’t lose sight of how special this group is and leave it all out there.”
Coleman left it all out there on the ice in his time with the Lightning, becoming one of the “final pieces” to the championship puzzle, as Cooper put it. Now that Coleman appears headed elsewhere, what is his message to the fans?
“I want to thank them for welcoming me,” Coleman said. “Tampa paid a pretty steep price for me to get there and there was some doubt on it. I hope that the two Cups and the memories we all created together justified that price tag. Really the whole city, I want to thank them for making my family feel at home. It’s only been a year and a half but it feels like we’ve been here a long time.
“Just really loved and appreciated every minute.”
(Top photo: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)
