Throughout the month of August, PHT will be dedicating a day to all 30 NHL clubs. Today’s team? The Tampa Bay Lightning.
If there’s something you can always give the Lightning credit for it’s having a tremendous offense. Martin St. Louis led the NHL in points last season while Steven Stamkos finished second. Sure, Sidney Crosby’s absence at the end of the season helped make that possible, but it doesn’t take away from how great those two played.
Points aside, Tampa is in flux having missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons. After a slightly tumultuous offseason, they look to regroup and compete with a new division filled with tougher opponents. Coach Jon Cooper will look internally to get the Lightning back to the postseason.
Offseason recap
The highlight of Tampa’s summer was seeing them buy out captain Vincent Lecavalier. The Lightning swallowed over $30 million to send Lecavalier away only to see him sign with the Philadelphia Flyers.
The draft saw Tampa draft Jonathan Drouin to be their next major offensive weapon but when it was time for free agency, GM Steve Yzerman stayed relatively quiet. Former Red Wings center Valtteri Filppula was their lone big signing and he should make for an adequate replacement for Lecavalier.
Tampa’s porous defense, meanwhile, was left virtually untouched or unimproved upon. For a team that finished in the bottom five in goals allowed, that’s one area that could’ve used a lot of improvement. Cooper will have to hope one of Ben Bishop or Anders Lindback can stand extra tall in goal to give them a shot at the postseason.
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