4 Big Questions for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21
There are Four Big Questions facing the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21.
It is finally time for some hockey with the 2020-21 NHL Season starting today and, as such, we are getting to the end of our Season Previews with the Tampa Bay Lightning our focus right now.
After years of heartbreak and disappointing endings to promising seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally got their hands on the most coveted prize in all of sports last year, the Stanley Cup.
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Yes, after learning from their humiliating First Round sweep to the Columbus Blue Jackets the year before, the Lightning refused to let anything stop them in 2019-20, including a global pandemic, and they were the last team standing inside The Bubble in Edmonton.
It was well-deserved for a Tampa Bay team that has been an absolute juggernaut over the last few years, and that core finally dragged themselves over the finishing line.
So, what’s next?
Well, after some sorcery by General Manager Julien BriseBois to get his team cap compliant while re-signing a number of key pieces, the Lightning will be bringing back pretty much the same roster in 2020-21 that claimed the Stanley Cup last year, except for one or two faces.
Of course, they will be without superstar forward Nikita Kucherov for the duration of the 2020-21 regular season after he underwent hip surgery in the offseason, but there should be more than enough talent on this roster to enable Tampa Bay to get to the postseason without one of their biggest weapons.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the 4 Big Questions facing the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020-21 NHL Season…
4. Will Steven Stamkos be able to stay healthy?
One of the defining images of the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs will be of Steven Stamkos returning for less than three minutes against the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final, scoring what was a crucial and momentum-turning goal in Game 3.
That was Stamkos’ only goal and only action of the postseason as a core injury kept him sidelined for most of the postseason, but the sight of the Tampa Bay Lightning Captain racing away in delight after scoring a huge goal brought joy to the heart.
Of course, having been battered by a plethora of different injuries over the last few years, there were some concerns that one of the most naturally-gifted players to ever play in the NHL might be forced into an early retirement.
However, after undergoing a second successful surgery to fully repair the core injury he reaggravated inside The Bubble, Steven Stamkos is expected to be fully healthy and ready to go once the puck drops on the 2020-21 NHL season today.
And that is incredibly good news for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After all, Stamkos demonstrated during the 2019-20 regular season that he was as close to his peak as possible, recording 66 points (29 G, 37 A) in 57 games, and he is only two years removed from putting up a 98 point season (45 G, 53 A) in 2018-19.
So, when healthy and still only 30, there is no doubt that Stamkos is still capable of being one of the best players in the NHL, as well as one of the biggest lethal offensive weapons.
It is encouraging then that, post-surgery, the Lightning Captain has looked pretty much back to his best throughout Training Camp and his team will be leaning on him more than ever in Nikita Kucherov’s absence.
If Steven Stamkos can remain healthy and put up monster numbers that he’s more than capable of, then don’t rule out the Tampa Bay Lightning repeating as Stanley Cup Champions in 2020-21.
3. Can Cal Foote shine in his rookie year?
One of the heavy prices you pay for being successful is that you miss out on high draft picks and, therefore, the chance to select elite studs early in the First Round.
And, as for the Tampa Bay Lightning, not only are they consistently picking at the end of the First Round, but they have also leveraged a large chunk of their future in order to win now.
Giving up high Draft picks and high-end prospects in the ilk of forward Nolan Foote in order to acquire pieces to win now obviously paid off handsomely for the Lightning, but the bill has to be paid at some point and you need talent in the farm system in order to reload.
Well, while their pipeline is somewhat depleted, we will see one of the franchise’s bright young hopes tonight with prospect defenseman Cal Foote having cracked the Opening Night roster.
Drafted with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, there are high hopes for Foote who is a two-way defenseman who can read the play, contribute to special teams, use his powerful 6-foot-4 and 220 pound frame to dominate in his own end and also play a real consistent game.
“Finding out that I’d be playing the first game has been very exciting. It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life.” #BoltsCamp
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 12, 2021
Cal Foote: https://t.co/QS7WKdbhtl pic.twitter.com/P0M09lbRXq
The son of retired NHL veteran Adam Foote, Cal will make his NHL debut Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks and will be paired with veteran Ryan McDonagh in the top-four, which will be an invaluable experience.
Having a seasoned pro like McDonagh alongside him will help to ease the transition to the NHL for Foote, who could well stay on the roster all year-long as long as he impresses.
After all, with the likes of Kevin Shattenkirk and Braydon Coburn leaving during the offseason, there is a chance for a young stud to really make his mark on this veteran-heavy team, and the Tampa Bay Lightning will hope that one of their best prospects in Cal Foote can establish himself as an NHL regular in 2020-21.
2. Can the Lightning cope without Nikita Kucherov in 2020-21?
Yes and no.
It was a crushing blow for the Tampa Bay Lightning that, just weeks before the start of the 2020-21 NHL season, they learned that their best and most dynamic offensive weapon in Nikita Kucherov will be missing for the entire regular-season.
Just two years removed from a stellar 128 point season (41 G, 87 A) and having put up 34 points in the postseason as the Lightning finally got their hands on the Stanley Cup last year, Kucherov will be a big miss for this team.
However, it isn’t the automatic end of Tampa Bay’s hopes to repeat in 2020-21.
After all, thanks to the genius of their General Manager Julien BriseBois, who somehow managed to get this team cap compliant, the majority of last season’s roster is back and there is more than enough talent on this team to finish atop the Central Division in a 56-game season.
If Steven Stamkos can stay fully healthy, Brayden Point continues to get better and better, as does Anthony Cirelli, and the likes of Ondrej Palat, Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Johnson can step up and provide secondary scoring both at 5-on-5 and on special teams, then there is enough talent for this team to survive without Kucherov.
If all of that happens then the Lightning will be just fine and the hope is that Kucherov will be back for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In an ideal world, the Russian superstar will return for the last chunk of the regular-season so he can get back into the swing of things before the real business begins. However, the most important thing for Tampa is that they have their main offensive weapon back for the postseason.
If Nikita Kucherov does indeed return for the Stanley Cup Playoffs then the Tampa Bay Lightning will be fine in the meantime but, if he doesn’t, then it could be a completely different story for the reigning champions.
1. Can the Tampa Bay Lightning repeat in 2020-21?
There is a reason the Stanley Cup is one of the hardest trophies to win in all of professional sports. Period.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a gruelling war of attrition and, after what will be an intense sprint to the finish-line in a condensed 56-game schedule, they could be even tougher this year.
Therefore, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s road to repeating as Stanley Cup Champions will be fraught with challenges perhaps far greater than the ones they faced inside The Bubble last year, which didn’t seem possible.
Firstly, they will have to mentally prepare themselves for another slog, an endurance test that will be made harder without fans in the building and tonight’s banner-raising won’t have the same impact in an empty building.
Secondly, the Lightning will also have to navigate the loss of one of the most dynamic forwards in the entire NHL in Nikita Kucherov, something we covered in the previous slide, and that will be no easy task.
It is also worth remembering that you need a hell of a lot of things to go right in order to win a championship in the NHL, you need a lot of things to go your way and you need a slice of luck and a lot of bounces of the puck along the way.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will need everyone to stay healthy, they will need players in the ilk of Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point to really step up offensively, they will need Victor Hedman to continue playing to a Norris Trophy-caliber level, as well as the likes of Ryan McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev, and they will also need another elite season from goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
If all of that can happen then, given their abundance of riches and the sheer level of talent and depth at their disposal, then the Lightning will have a great chance of repeating as Stanley Cup Champions.
But it will be far from easy given that the Pittsburgh Penguins are the only team to win back-to-back cups in the salary cap era (2016 and 2017), while they are also the only team to have done it since the 1998-99 season.
That should give you some idea as to how hard it is to run it back in the NHL, and a 56-game season in a Division where you will play the same opponent eight or nine times means that a slow start is out of the equation.
Granted, the Dallas Stars, who they defeated in the Stanley Cup Final last year, may well be the biggest threat to the Lightning, but they also can’t afford to take the likes of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers and the Columbus Blue Jackets lightly, either.
There is also the possibility of losing players due to the COVID-19 virus throughout the season with no Bubble to protect teams this year, so the element of surprise will be another challenge that Tampa has to deal with.
Next. 4 Big Questions for the St. Louis Blues. dark
Overall, repeating as Stanley Cup Champions is one of the hardest things to do in all of major sports and it will be significantly harder this year for a plethora of different reasons but, if there’s one team equipped to go back-to-back, then it is the Tampa Bay Lightning.