Recharged

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

2016-17 record: 42-30-10 (94 points)
Missed the playoffs
Captain: Steven Stamkos

The Tampa Bay Lightning were an exercise in frustration last season, as their high hopes of making a deep playoff run ended before they even had the chance to get out of the starting blocks. Injuries to both Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan, as well as slow starts by everyone not named Nikita Kucherov conspired to keep the Lightning from making the playoffs. This year, they're hoping to have everything line up once again and make the deep playoff run...one year later.

Not having Stamkos for much of the season meant that someone had to keep the Lightning's hopes afloat, and it turned out to be Nikita Kucherov. After him, however, the only other 20 goal scorer was Jonathan Drouin, and he was traded in the off-season. In many ways, it was a byproduct of the team's overall struggles for parts of the season, as both Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson missed a little time to injuries and were unable to find any consistency, Alex Killorn still remains inconsistent, and scoring depth suddenly became an issue. A return to health by Stamkos, who now faces questions of durability, as he has missed time to injuries in the last three seasons, would help. On the blue line, Victor Hedman was the player everyone expected him to be and then some, as he pitched in with 56 assists, putting him just behind Kucherov for the team's scoring lead. Anton Stralman remains Hedman's reliable sidekick, but after that, questions arise. Mikhail Sergachev is in line for a spot on the team if he proves to be too good for major junior, but for the most part, figuring out the chemistry with the pairings amongst Dan Girardi, Braydon Coburn, Jake Dotchin, Andrej Sustr, and Slater Koekkoek will be important. In goal, it's Andrei Vasilevskiy's crease now, as long time starter Ben Bishop was sent out at the trade deadline. The goaltending last year was merely average, and now that there is a clear cut number one goaltender, there should be more stability. Peter Budaj, who came the other way in the Bishop trade, figures to be the backup. Special teams ranked in the top half, with the power play seeing major improvement from the previous season while the penalty kill looks to rebound from its slight decline.

Prediction: 2nd in the Atlantic Division

Health and consistency were all that stood in the way of Tampa Bay and a chance at making a deep run in the playoffs. This year, they're banking on both things being set right; however, the stakes aren't just confined to playoffs, as the seats of the coaching staff could be warmer if such problems persist.