Tampa Bay Lightning: What’s next after winning the Stanley Cup?

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the 2020 Stanley Cup champions. With a shortened offseason, the focus will almost immediately shift to next season, so where do the Bolts go from here?

In 2015, the Tampa Bay Lightning arrived on the scene, as a group of young and talented players fell in the Stanley Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, after close calls and a big disappointments, the Lightning have reached the top of the mountain.

Their objective from here is to find a way to repeat this success. Tampa waited 16 years between Stanley Cup runs, but this group will look to avoid waiting quite as long for the franchise’s third championship.

The Lightning have never seemed to be an organization with a win now mentality. I think an argument could be made that acquisitions like Pat Maroon, Kevin Shattenkirk, Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman made 2020 a season that fit that description, but overall, this franchise has been patient and allowed its key players to develop to an elite level.

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Moving forward, that should continue to be the mentality. It is extremely difficult to repeat as champions in the NHL, which means that it is highly unlikely that the Lightning win again in 2021. Not to mention, there are a lot of players that are not under contract, so it is not as though this roster will look the same next season. With that said, Tampa should be playing the long game.

The core of this team is young enough that looking for a title one, two, three, or even four years from now is absolutely reasonable. Players like Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are all 30 years of age or younger, so this is not the type of team whose window is closing.

Things are wide open for Tampa Bay, and the future is bright. The key, then, is getting younger and cheaper. The Lightning were one of the oldest teams that played in the NHL’s bubbles this summer, largely because of a defensive unit with an average age of 31.7, according to Cap Friendly. Adding youth to the lineup will allow the team to be competitive even as its core ages.

Financially, this club does not have much room to sign players, yet there are only 15 players under contract for next season. Shedding some salary will be important not only so that bringing in talent for the next several years is possible, but also because COVID-19 will continue to impact the amount of money available to spend.

While no one will want to see players that just won the Cup leave town, it will be necessary if the Bolts want to give themselves the best chance to win for multiple years. I would look at players like Tyler Johnson, Braydon Coburn, and Ryan McDonagh as possible trade candidates, as moving them would open considerable cap space and make the team younger.

Coburn is 35 and is the fourth best left handed defenseman on the roster. McDonagh, though he plays a lot of minutes, makes $6.75 million to be the number three defenseman on the left side. Both of these players could see their roles diminish by the time this club makes its next deep run, and besides, scoring and goaltending are the keys for the Lightning.

In addition, letting go of Johnson or a different forward is easier due to the fact that Stamkos will be reinserted into the lineup. That will give Tampa the flexibility to move a large cap hit and still have a way to match or increase offensive production.

More importantly, though, than moving guys out is keeping players in Tampa Bay. Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli are two young players that have been very good for the Lightning and that are in need of contracts. Bringing them back will go a long way in keeping this team competitive while also making sure it has a youthful presence.

Overall, the Bolts do not need to win 60 games next season, nor do they need to go overboard in an attempt to repeat as champions. With the core of this team in tact, it has the ability to position itself as a contender for the next several years while still being competitive in 2021.