Isaac Howard Didn’t Like the Path the Tampa Bay Lightning Presented To Him
Friedman continued with his segment on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio and was asked why the Isaac Howard situation played out in Tampa Bay the way it did and how he ended up in Edmonton.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Scott Laughlin: “Hey Friedge, so as it turns out, Isaac Howard wanted to go to Edmonton. Like, are we ever going to find out what the truth was as to why he didn’t end up with the Tampa Bay Lightning? Because you would have thought on the surface, here’s this Michigan State star, and he’s drafted by Tampa. Look at what Tampa is on and off the ice, the Stanley Cup pedigree, the great weather, the whole bit. And he goes to northern Alberta for a chance to play with the Oilers. I mean, what have you ever heard about why that actually played out the way that it did?”
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Friedman: “All I’ve heard is that the path wasn’t what he wanted. So I don’t know if it was how soon he was going to be in the NHL, or, he didn’t like his spot on the roster. But that’s what I was told, was just, like, whatever was the path, or basically it wasn’t set up the way he wanted it to be set up. That he was uncertain about something. I don’t even know if that meant contracts, but that’s what I heard.
It’s just the way the Lightning, like, the Lightning really wanted him. Like, there’s no question about that. Like, I remember when they were trying to figure out what was going to happen here, before it got out that he was that it wasn’t going to work, that he was going to go back to school at Michigan State. I think he was named the Hobey Baker finalist, and the Lightning made sure to post about it, and someone pointed out to me that’s how much they wanted him.
But whatever the case, whatever the vision the Lightning had, it didn’t line up with the vision that Howard had, and that’s why things played out the way they did.”
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