Three Key Offseason Storylines To Follow With The Tampa Bay Lightning
It is weird not seeing theTampa Bay Lightning not in the Stanley Cup Final this season. This is the first time since 2019 that the Lightning are not playing in the final hockey games of the season, and with today being the potential eve of the final game of the 2023 NHL season, there is no better time to catch up with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Three Key Offseason Storylines To Follow With The Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning finished the 2022-23 NHL season with a record of 46-30-6, good enough for third in the Atlantic Division with 98 points. Their spot in third place was locked by what felt like the half way point of the season, which kind of made it seem like the back half of the season did not matter as much.
With that in mind, the players on the Lightning struggled. Jon cooper benched his three biggest stars Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, for the entire third period of a game against the Buffalo Sabres in early March. While it seemed like this team would just get into the playoffs and then turn it on, that was not what ended up happening this season.
In a first round rematch against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto ended up winning in six games this time around. Losing in six games to the Leafs is not how the Lightning would have expected to end their season, but when considering that the three final losses all required overtime, this series could have went the other way.
For the first time in three years, the Lightning are getting a little bit more rest this offseason. They have played a lot of hockey over the past few seasons, so getting that extra rest now can really help them find their way going into the 2023-24 season. So let’s take a look at three big storylines to follow this offseason.
1. Who should be re-signed and who will the Tampa Bay Lightning let walk?
The Lightning made some news last week when they re-signed defensemen Sean Day to a two-year deal. He will not be the last extension the Lightning hand out this offseason though, especially with some big names still needing new contracts.
The Lightning have Ross Colton, Tanner Jeannot, Pierre-Édouard, Alex Killorn, Corey Perry and Brian Elliott currently without contracts for next season. Only Colton and Jeannot are RFA eligible so there is no guarantee that the Lightning will be bringing back much of this group next season.
There is very little cap space for the Lightning to operate this offseason either. With the players mentioned above I think the biggest name has to be Alex Killorn. He has been with the team for so long and is coming off one of his best seasons. Killorn has been with the team since getting drafted in the third round of the 2007 NHL draft. Losing him because of salary cap restraints would really hurt, so hopefully the team can work out a deal to keep him in Tampa Bay.
Additionally the Lightning traded a lot of assets to land Tanner Jeannot this past season. He is currently without a contract for next season, and you have to imagine that Julien BriseBois will want to keep him around after the price he had to pay to add him to their roster.
2. Do the Tampa Bay Lightning still have what it takes to win now?
This is going to be the main question throughout this offseason and most of the 2023-24 season. Do the Lightning still have what it takes to win? It kind of seemed like the wheels were falling off most of last season, and this year is not going to get easier. The Lightning have other teams behind them getting better.
Toronto and Boston still are committed to winning now. Florida will be a strong contender after their run to the Stanley Cup Final this year. Detroit and Buffalo are not going to be content with a small improvement this upcoming year, they want to make the playoffs. Additionally Montreal and Ottawa are both improving.
The Atlantic Division is not going to be a cakewalk for the Lightning. They cannot hit the auto pilot button and expect to wake up in early April getting ready for their playoff run. This upcoming season is going to require a lot of this team.
With that in mind, I still wouldn’t bet against the Lightning to succeed. Even if the team losing Killorn, Perry or Cole they still have Point, Stamkos, Cirelli, Hagel, Hedman, Sergachev and Vasilevskiy. This team still has the pieces, but there are some huge hurdles to jump in the coming seasons.
3. What will contracts for Stamkos and Hagel look like next year?
At the officially turning point of the NHL season calendar, July 1, the Lightning can start handing out contract extensions to players on expiring deals ending at the end of the 2023-24 season. There are a few big names to worry about from that group, most notably Steven Stamkos and Brandon Hagel.
The Lightning added Hagel from the Chicago Blackhawks, the reason they are without their first round picks for the next two drafts. In his two seasons with the Lightning thus far he has 71 points in 103 games, and he is playing in a top six role for the team.
Hagel’s 30 goals this past season was remarkable. it was tied for the third best total on the team. Getting Hagel extended will definitely be a big piece to the puzzle for the Lightning to continue to push that championship window open. However, the Lightning’s captain has to be the central point.
Steven Stamkos signed an eight year $68 million contract on Jun. 29, 2016. The contract carried a cap hit of $8.5 million and currently makes up 10.2% of the Lightning’s overall cap hit. Stamkos has been one of the Lightning’s best players since the team drafted him first overall in 2008. Keeping him in Tampa Bay will definitely be one of the main goals this upcoming season, and it is something that could be finalized by the time opening night roles around.
It will be interesting to see whether or not Stamkos will take a little bit of a discount at this point to stay in Tampa Bay. While the team is starting to run out of assets, they still have the potential to win now, and that can only happen if the team is not fighting right up to the cap limit every year.
The Lightning’s plan for the future will be interesting to see. We will be able to get our first glimpse at how they will move forward at the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville. Tampa Bay currently has three picks for the upcoming draft. They own their own sixth and seventh round picks as well as the Anaheim Ducks seventh round pick.