Moving forward to the current season, I did want to share some thoughts on what has changed within the org-an-iz-ation since last season as well as roster strengths and weaknesses.
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| Amalie Arena |
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Out is long time Associate Coach Rick Bownness. Main duties running the penalty kill and defense.
Out is Assistant Coach Brad Lauer
Out is General Manager, Steve Yzerman. Will Remain as Sr Advisor to the GM.
In is former Lightning Forward, Jeff Halprin named Assistant Coach.
In is former AHL Head Coach of the Iowa Wild, Derek LaLond named to Jon Copper's Staff.
In is Julien Brisebois as General Manager, promoted from Assistant General Manager.
Todd Richards remains and will assume the duties of former Coach Rich Bownness
Hockey Operations and Coaching Staff
ROSTER CHANGES
Gone is F Kris Kunitz-not resigned
Gone is D Andre Suster -UFA not offered an offer sheet from Tampa, signed with San Jose Sharks.
Gone is Matthew Peca F-UFA signed with Montreal Canadians.
Gone is D Jake Dotchin for a material contract breach.
Resigned F Adam Erne to one year contract.
Resigned F Nikita Kucherov to eight year contract.
Resigned F J.T. Miller to five year contract.
Resigned F Cedric Paquette to one year contract.
Resigned D Slater Koekoek to one year contract.
Resigned D Ryan McDonagh to seven year contract.
Resigned G Louis Domingue to two year contract.
Resigned G Eddie Pasquale to one year, two way contract.
Resigned D Daniel Walcot to one year, two way contract.
Current Roster
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| Palat-Johnson-Stamkos celebrate a goal |
They say you need an exceptional player or two up front to win a championship. The Lightning meet that criteria and then some. Starting with C Steven Stamkos who added play maker to his resume last season tossing in 27 goals and a career high 59 assists. Singed to a new eight year deal in the off season, RW Nikita Kucherov lead the team in scoring with a career high 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists) and finished third in scoring in the league. However both were non factors in the ECF. Rounding out the top line was trade deadline acquisition, LW JT Miller (82gp, 23g, 35a, 58p) Miller's presence brings a rugged dimension missing from a lineup often characterized as soft and undersized. A full season of JT Miller should open the ice more for Stammer and Kuch.
THE SECOND LINE group brings almost as much scoring punch as the top line. Once paired against Boston's top line during the second round of last year's playoff, they proved to be defensively dominate as well and tilted the momentum in the series toward Tampa. Centered by Braydon Point (32g, 34a, 66p) and flanked by RW Tyler Johnson (21g, 29a, 50p) and LW Ondrej Palat (11g, 24a, 35p). The strength and depth of the organization shines bright as all three players are products of the Lightning's minor league system. Expect no changes here.
THE THIRD LINE is solid and dependable. Rookie Anothony Cirelli solidified the line and the combination should remain in tact as well. Cirelli was a late season call-up, playing 18 games, scoring his first goal in his first game against former Lightning Goalie, Ben Bishop. Cirelli saw his playing time increase as the coaching staff gained confidence in his responsible play. In addition, he played all 17 playoff games. He plays opposite Alex Killorn (15g, 32a, 47p) who is a streaky scorer but always dependable defensively (+22). The pivot for this line is Yanni Gourde (25g, 39a, 64p) who played all 82 regular season games and every playoff game in 2018. This line contributed 18% of the teams league leading 296 goals and was a combined +67.
THE FOURTH LINE gets interesting when we examine the battles that will be waged internally for the bottom three forward spots. Ryan Callanhan's off season shoulder surgery will keep the rugged forward out of the line up until November. I have often said the Lightning are not the same when #24 is not on the ice. Callahan's aggressive style has taken a toll on his body tough, missing 145 games in the last five seasons. He is a top notch penalty killer willing to sacrifice his body, blocking shots, going hard into the corner to battle for the puck and not afraid to finish a check on the heavy side. When he returns healthy he will resume his fourth line role. Until then, someone will need to fill that right wing role.
The very physical center, Cedric Paquette probably played his way back onto the team with a solid playoff performance last year, earning himself a contract this year. His point production has fallen since his rookie season, but he is decent in the face off circle and plays well above his weight class in the toughness department.
The LW spot on the fourth line is vacant due to Kris Kunitz not being offered a contract. Contenders are Adam Erne, Andy Adreoff, Gabriel Dumont, and Cory Conacher. All four players have NHL experience. Erne and Adreoff play a similar power forward game while Dumont and Conacher rely on skill and speed. Andreoff was acquired from the LA Kings in a trade sending back-up goalie Petr Budaj to the Kings last season. He is getting a strong look in camp from the coaching staff and has played in all three pre season games so far. Game experience is hard to teach and he has 159 NHL games under his skates, playing 60 games during the 2015-16 season in LA.
Gabriel Dumont came on strong at the end of the 2016-17 season. He was trusted with crucial defensive zone face offs, a spot left vacant when Brian Boyle was dealt to Toronto at the trade deadline that season. Dumont is a defensively responsible forward but does not provide much offensive upside. He has seen spot duty on the penalty kill. My prediction is he starts the season in Syracuse.
Cory Conacher has the most games played in the NHL at 188. He began his NHL career with Tampa Bay in 2012-2013 scoring 24 points through 35 being before being traded to the Ottawa Senators for G Ben Bishop. I remember how I thought Yzerman had lost his ever loving mind at the time of this trade. It turned out to be one of Stevie Y's better trades in hindsight. Starting last season in Syracuse, he did get called up 18 games into the campaign, playing 36 games and chipping in eight goals. He is the most offensively gifted forward vying for a roster spot. He has spent brief moments on the power play.
OPENING NIGHT PREDICTIONS
Kucherov-Stamkos-Miller
Palat-Point-Johnson
Kilorn-Gourde-Cirelli
Andreoff-Paquette-Erne
Pressbox-Conacher
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| 2018 Norris Trophy winner, Victor Hedman |
DEFENSE
And just when you thought there would be less drama from the blue-liners, we learn before training camp opened, the team terminated the contract of D Jake Dotchin for a material breach. Dotchin looked good at times but was inconsistent as evidenced by his lack of playing time last season. He most likely would have competed with Brayden Coburn for the 6th D-man spot. However he ran afoul of the team at the beginning of 2016-17 season and was suspended the entire pre-season.
The Lightning allowed 236 goals last season only good enough to be 19th in the league. Although the team lead the league with a +60 differential, this was primarily due to scoring 296 goals and is probably going to be difficult to repeat. The defense needs to make up the difference by reducing opposition scoring chances. Its not all doom and gloomy though.
The shinning nugget of success occurred during the Boston series when the Bruins were only scoring power play goals for three straight games which translates to the blue line shutting down a potent Bruin offense.
The top 6 is set, there is no disputing that. With the departure of Associate Coach Rick Bowness, who ran the defensive schemes, there will be some adjustment for all as Todd Richards assumes the responsibility for the D-Corps.
- Victor Hedman (77gp, 17g, 46a, 63p) is 27 and is entering his 9th NHL season. He averages over 24 minutes a game and appears to get stronger as the game wears on. He also won his first Norris Trophy last season. Maybe the best penalty killer in the league because of his deceptive speed, long reach, quickness and positioning. Also plays on the first Power Play Unit.
- Ryan McDonagh (63gp, 4g, 25a, 29p) is 29 and comes to Tampa at the trade deadline last season, is regarded as a rugged stay at home defense man. McDonagh is also the former Captain of the New York Rangers and brings leadership and experience to an already experienced locker room. He signed a seven year contract in the off season to keep him in Lightning colors for a while. He is capable of playing big minutes as well and may take some pressure off of Sergachev and or Girardi.
- Anton Stralman (80gp, 4g, 14a, 18p) is the 32 years old, is also entering the last year of his contract. Stralman is a positional hockey player who is rarely caught off guard and seems to be in the right place all the time. It would be nice to see he and Hedman paired together again this season.
- Mikhail Sergachev (79gp, 9gp, 31a, 40p) is all of 20 years old and had a heck of a rookie season. Some of his defensive lapses were revealed in the playoffs as he was pushed down to the third pair. But man, this kid has got what it takes to be a very good NHL defender. Size and speed can't be taught and he has both. Don't be surprised to see him paired with McDonagh on the second pair.
- Dan Girardi (77gp, 6g, 12a, 18p) is 34 years old and entering the last year of his contract. Girardi's strength is his uncanny ability to block shots no what happens. Who can forget the horrifying moment last year when he took a shot off the back of his head while blocking a shot. He is an effective penalty killer. He and Braydon Coburn will make an effective third pair.
- Braydon Coburn (72gp, 1g, 14a, 15p) is a serviceable, realiable defenseman. He actually got stronger as the playoffs wore on last season. As Sergachev's minutes declined, Coburn stepped up his play to fill the gap. More than capable of playing hard nosed, in your face hockey.
The organization is stocked with highly skilled forwards with several ready to make the jump to the big show when needed. Ready to go defense men, not so much. Cal Foote, Erick Cernak and Dominic Masin could see action this season if the team is pressed with multiple, short term injuries.
OPENING NIGHT PAIRINGS
Hedman-Stralman
McDonagh-Sergachev
Girardi-Coburn
Pressbox- sKoekkoek, Cernak
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| Vasilveskiy glove save VS the stinking Flyers |
GOALIE
In the early days of the Lightning, Phil Esposito stated "you win championships from the net out" In the spirit of that belief, current team management has built the current team with a focus on quality goal tending. The organization is solid in goal tending depth at the NHL level and in Syracuse.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (66 GP, 44 wins. 2.66GAA, .920% SV%) is 24. Last season was his first season as a starter in the NHL and played well enough to be a Vezina Trophy Finalist. The SV% went up in the second half of the year as the grind of being "the man" appeared to wear him down. His back up at the time, Petr Budaj was ineffective and place a greater work load on the young Russian. Yzerman solved this by trading for Arizona cast off Louie Domingue. Budaj got hurt, Domingue moved in and never left. He provided quality starts and the team responded when he was in net.
- Louis Domingue-(Tampa stats, 12gp, 7 wins, 2.75GAA, .901SV%, ) is 26 and proved he is a capable NHL quality net minder. Signed a two year deal this off season and should provide 20-25 starts thus reducing the work load on Vasilevskiy.
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| Stamkos scores on the Power Play |
- POWER PLAY- finished the season at 23.6%, good enough for third best in the league. Both units produce scoring. Having Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller for the entire season should add to the potency of the attack. The PP produced 66 of the teams 290 goals.
- PENALTY KILL - finished the season 76.1% only three teams were worse. The team elected to change coaches when they terminated Associate Coach Rick Bowness. The personnel remain basically the same. A full season of McDonagh, Miller and Cirelli should have positive impact on the results. The other impact on improving the PK is to reduce team PIM from 753. The team was undisciplined at times and staying out of the box reduces the amount of the chances for the opposition to score with the man advantage.
- Scoring
- Goal tending
- Scoring Depth
- Penalty Kill
- Defensive Depth
- Playing down to lesser opponents
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