2014-15 LEADING SCORERS
C Steven Stamkos (43 G, 29 A, 72 P)
C Tyler Johnson (29 G, 43 A, 72 P)
RW Nikita Kucherov (29 G, 36 A, 65 P)
LAST SEASON
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a couple of big headines during the 2014-15 NHL season. The biggest one being that they made the Stanley Cup Finals with their relatively young team. The young team leads us into the second biggest headline, being the monster breakout of the triplets line, composed of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Nikita Kucherov. Two of the members of the line in Johnson and Kucherov finished in the top three in scoring after tallying 65 points, with Palat finishing close behind with 63 points. The Lightning were already poised for a rebound season after getting swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2014 playoffs, and they did far more than just rebound.
Trades made during the season included sending veteran defenseman Eric Brewer to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 3rd round pick, acquiring prospects Carter Ashton and David Broll from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 7th round pick, trading Evgeni Nabokov to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations, and finally, to solidify their chances at making the playoffs, they acquired Braydon Coburn from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Radko Gudas, a 2015 1st round pick and a 2015 3rd round pick. They also had to trade forward Brett Connolly to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2nd round pick in 2015 and a 2nd round pick in 2016 to make room on the roster for youngsters who were performing better such as Vladislav Namestnikov.
Heading into the playoffs, it was a wild ride for the Lightning. They opened against the Detroit Red Wings in round one and defeated them in a thrilling seven game series, and then rematched against the Montreal Canadiens, and got the revenge they were pushing for, by defeating them in six games. They then played the New York Rangers in the conference final and defeated them in a nailbiter in game seven. Finally, they matched up against the 2010 and 2013 Stanley Cup Champions in the final, but unfortunately lost out in six games.
However, with a young core and solid veterans, nobody in the Lightning organization was panicking, and everyone only felt optimism after this rollercoaster of a season.
OFFSEASON
IN
Daniel Walcott
Matt Taormina
Erik Condra
Jeff Tambellini
Tye McGinn
OUT
Peter Mannino
Mark Barberio
Danick Gauthier
Brenden Morrow
Cody Kunyk
Jean-Philippe Cote
Matthew Corrente
Dan Milan
Dalton Smith
Allen York
Carter Ashton
Sami Salo
The Lightning were relatively quiet this offseason. They entered the 2015 NHL Draft without a first round pick, but this was not a problem. They still managed to pick up a prospect who could potentially have been first round caliber in Mitchell Stephens with their 33rd overall pick, and also snagged up defenseman Matt Spencer with their 44th pick. In free agency, they didn't downgrade, but didn't neccessarily upgrade either. They lost a few veterans in Brenden Morrow and Sami Salo and depth in Mark Barbeiro, but they signed forward Erik Condra to compliment their bottom six, and also signed depth players Tye McGinn and Jeff Tambellini. Otherwise, they didn't make any big splashes.
NEXT SEASON PT 1. OFFENSE
The biggest storyline heading into the 2015-16 season on the Lightning's offense will be whether or not the triplets line can carry on scoring like they did last year, and if they do, look for most of the Lightning's offense coming from them, with the other load no doubt being carried by Steven Stamkos. Look for youngsters Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette to push for permanent roster spots. Erik Condra and Jeff Tambellini will provide depth for the Lightning in the coming season.
NEXT SEASON PT 2. DEFENSE
The Lightning's defensive core will be led by young Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman, with additional support coming from veterans Braydon Coburn, Jason Garrison, and Anton Stralman. Expect youngsters Nikita Nesterov and Andrej Sustr along with Matt Carle to compete for the final spots on the defensive core.
NEXT SEASON PT 3. GOALTENDING
While starting goaltender Ben Bishop is expected to take most of the calls between the pipes, don't expect the Lightning to shy away from the blooming backup Andrei Vasilevsky. Both have proved that they can be good goaltenders when needed, so expect Bishop to earn 60% of the starts and Vasilevsky to earn 40% of them.
POSSIBLE 2015-16 OPENING NIGHT LINEUP
Valtteri Filppula - Steven Stamkos - Ryan Callahan
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Jonathan Drouin - Alex Killorn - Vladislav Namestnikov
J.T Brown - Brian Boyle - Erik Condra
Victor Hedman - Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison - Braydon Coburn
Matt Carle - Andrej Sustr
Ben Bishop
Andrei Vasilevsky
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