Welcome to our offseason initiative — 30 teams in 30 days.
From July 16 until Aug. 14, we’ll be dedicating each day to a new team by recapping the offseason and looking ahead to 2012-13.
There will also be a series of posts looking at key stories, player profiles and burning questions regarding each squad.
Today we continue with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After falling one win short of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, the Lightning fell far and hard last season.
Injuries and Dwayne Roloson’s pronounced regression fueled a rough season, prompting GM Steve Yzerman to make some substantial changes during this offseason.
The Bolts experienced a significant makeover which focuses primarily on stopping opponents from scoring goals.
In net, Mathieu Garon remains a safety net behind Anders Lindback - a young goalie whose thin resume and intriguing potential represents a complete 180 from Roloson.
Those two goalies should enjoy superior defensive support, too.
Yzerman landed one of the biggest free agent blueliners Matt Carle and also added fragile (but useful) defenseman Sami Salo from Vancouver.
Combine those additions with Victor Hedman’s development and life could be significantly easier for Lightning goalies.
PHT will examine multiple storylines to see where, exactly, those changes might place this team today.