With the season starting on Oct. 13, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a lot going for them. Coming off of a crushing game seven loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Lightning will be looking for more this year. With the finalization of Nikita Kucherov’s resigning on a three-year deal on Oct. 11, they have solidified their position as one of the early favorites to win it all. As long as they remain healthy the team should be solid on all fronts.
The Lightning have a powerful offense thanks to captain Steven Stamkos, who signed an eight-year contract earlier this summer, along with Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, and rising youngster Jonathan Drouin. Kucherov, who lead the team in total points, looks to continue his growth, having improved on his point total from the 2014-2015 season despite playing 5 less games. Meanwhile, captain Stamkos should be fully healed from his vascular surgery in April, and will come into this season looking to recapture his form, after scoring the fewest goals during a full season since his rookie year. The main weakness to the offense was on the power play. Scoring on only 15.8 percent of their power plays was third worst in the league, and the team must do better than that this season.
The defense should also be quite dangerous. Defenseman Victor Hedman led the Lightning in assists last season, and his line mate Anton Stralman will be a force on the blue line once again. 2012 first round draft pick Slater Koekkoek got some NHL experience last season, and will look to be a boost to the team. Koekkoek did well in the minors, recording 15 points in Syracuse last season, with eliteprospects.com calling him a solid all-round defenseman, noting his passing and shooting skills were high for a young defenseman. It will be interesting to see how the Lightning handle Koekkoek, as he is expected to be on the main roster from the start, but if the 22-year-old struggles, how short is his leash?
Goaltending will once again be the biggest strength to the Lightning. Ben Bishop is healthy again, and will likely maintain his Vezina trophy caliber play for another season. Backing up Bishop will once again be Andrei Vasilevskiy, who performed exceptionally well during last season’s playoffs after Bishops injury. Although there is a huge benefit to having two NHL starting caliber goalies on the roster, it would not be a total surprise in there is a move at some point during this season where one of the two is traded for some high skill prospects. Smart money would be on Bishop being traded, as the Lightning would want to keep the much younger Vasilevskiy.
The risk to this season for the Lightning will be health. Forward Ryan Callahan is still recovering from his offseason hip surgery, and is not expected to be back until November at the earliest. His penalty killing skills will be useful as the Lightning had a top 10 penalty kill last season with him. The risk is to more than just Callahan though. Each of the last two seasons have met the Lightning with injury. Stamkos broke his leg in 2013 and missed significant time due to the blood clots last season.
Bishop has gotten hurt during the playoffs both years, and the only thing that saved the team last year was the rise of Vasilevskiy.
To be clear, hockey is one of the most physically punishing sports. Every team will deal with injuries, but if the Lightning can minimize their injuries, the Tampa Bay area will be in for a magical season. With the level of skill this team has on offense, defense and goalkeeping, seeing the Stanley Cup being hoisted in Amalie Arena is a very real possibility.