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There had been considerable talk about Stamkos hitting the open market and jumping instead to his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Garrison had signed with his hometown side as a free agent on July 1, 2012, inking a six-year, $27.6-million contract with the Canucks.

He was coming off a 16-goal campaign with the Florida Panthers.

The GM who signed Garrison with Vancouver, Mike Gillis, was fired two seasons later, and the man who replaced him, Jim Benning, wanted to change up the roster and shed salary. He asked Garrison to waive his no-trade clause, and Garrison agreed to a June 27, 2014 deal that moved him to Tampa Bay.

Garrison maintains he’s pleased with it now. Of course, playing in 40 playoff games the last two springs can do wonders for the outlook.

“You have to move by those things quickly,” Garrison said of his initial feelings about leaving the Canucks, “and a lot of people were saying that they liked it. They told me, ‘You’re going to love it there.’

“I remember playing against them with Vancouver. You didn’t know any of the guys, but they were super skilled and quick. When I got there and saw it firsthand, I definitely got excited.”

Garrison is yet to recapture the goal-scoring form he had in Florida. He did have some injury issues in Vancouver, including groin trouble. In 72 regular season games with Tampa Bay last season, he scored five times and assisted on six others, to go with a minus-four rating.

He dropped from four goals and 26 assists in 70 games with Tampa Bay in 2014-15.

He was third among defensemen on the team in ice time per game this past season, clocking 18:27 per night in the regular season. In the playoffs, he remained the third-busiest rearguard for Tampa Bay on average, playing 19:29 per contest.

“I don’t think there’s much personal,” the 6-foot-2, 223-pound product of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers said of his goals for this coming season. “I just want to make sure I’m consistent and support the team as much as I can. I want to be a leader.

“We’ve proven be a good team, a winning team. We just have to make that next step. That’s the game plan for this year.”