Three players the Lightning will have a hard time replacing

The Tampa Bay Lightning know the cost of winning in the NHL.

Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2020, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had to shift their team around year by year to stay competitive and stay under the salary cap. It has worked out for them as they followed their 2020 championship with another in 2021 and then a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022.

Each season the team has had to shift out different key players in order to stay under the salary cap and keep the winning going. During the past few seasons, the team has said goodbye to players like Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Johnson to name a few.

This offseason has seen similar results with a lot of players being moved out to make room for the signings of guys like Nicholas Paul and Mikhail Sergachev to name a few.

With the 2021-22 season in the books, it is hard not to look back on things and feel disappointed on the outcome for the Lightning. They were just two wins away from winning their third straight Stanley Cup.

Getting back there is going to be even tougher, especially considering some of the players the team said goodbye to this offseason. Let’s go over three players the Lightning are going to have a hard time replacing.