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The Lightning are finally good enough
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Author:  E.L. [ Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:40 pm ]
Post subject:  The Lightning are finally good enough

Only nine regulation losses after 47 games. A +58 goal differential in that time.

Kucherov is the league's point leader. Point and Stamkos also in the top 20. Vasilevskiy is dominant.

They're running away with things in the regular season, and I think they're well set up for the playoffs.

Author:  Bosc [ Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good

Kucherov is amazing to watch. How many guys need as little time as he does with the puck to turn something into a scoring chance or a goal, outside of Ovechkin's one-timer(which Ovechkin needs someone else to set up. Kucherov sets up others with just a touch)? It just looks so damn easy for him. Used to look like that for Getzlaf as well.

Author:  Pokecheque [ Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good

You jinxed 'em, Erik.

Author:  Bosc [ Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good

Kucherov with 115 now in 71 games. Could hit 130 which would be the most since Lemieux in 95-96 but nobody is touching 69-92-161 unless there are radical changes in the game.

Author:  E.L. [ Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good

I kinda crapped on McDonough after they acquired him last season and then handed him an extension, but I'll admit he looks like himself again.

Now to figure out a way to get out of the Palat and Gourde deals.

Author:  Bosc [ Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good

E.L. wrote:
I kinda crapped on McDonough after they acquired him last season and then handed him an extension, but I'll admit he looks like himself again.

Now to figure out a way to get out of the Palat and Gourde deals.


I really thought they needed to move Killorn last offseason after he had a resurgence.

They'll need to see what they can do this offseason to unload Callahan's final year on someonelike they did with Filppula. Ottawa would be a good candidate as his actual salary is about a mil less than the cap hit, but:

Quote:
CLAUSE DETAILS: Player submits a 16 team trade list


https://www.capfriendly.com/players/ryan-callahan

Author:  Pokecheque [ Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good

Don't think they'll have an issue dumping Palat or Gourde. Both of them are good players.

Callahan will probably be one of those deals where someone with cap space to weaponize can extract something of value in exchange for taking on the contract. Not sure if Chayka and the Coyotes are done with those kinds of deals but the Sens are obviously gonna tank it at least one more season, I'm sure Dorion will be on the lookout for deals like that. The Avs should have plenty of cap space to take that kind of stuff on as well.

Author:  E.L. [ Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Whoops. Guess they were too good this season.

What now?

They've got about 7-10M in cap space and need to re-sign Brayden Point, who could be a 9M guy if not more.

They have only four defencemen under contract, although they are good ones: Hed, McDo, Cernak, Sergachev.

They have one more year of Callahan's horrible deal. Unfortunately for them he's always healthy enough to play and not go on LTIR.

Johnson, Palat, Gourde and Miller all make 5M+ on crazy long-term deals. Not sure any of them are 5M players. Same could be said for Killorn, who makes 4.5M. Miller the obvious guy to go seeing as he was a scratch in the playoffs and more or less a gift from the Rangers.

They have one more year of Vasilevsky before he needs to be paid.

Stevie Y is gone.

Author:  Pokecheque [ Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Certainly not the first nor will it be the last time the NHL's best regular season team faceplanted in the playoffs, but this is definitely the biggest choke-job of them all.

The worst thing BriseBois can do is panic like other extremely talented teams (Capitals, Blues, Sabres, Flyers) and try and chase the white whale known as "toughness." I can't imagine he'll do that.

Shouldn't be hard to find a taker for Callahan's final year, but there'll have to be some incentive (pick or mid-tier player/prospect) thrown in.

The choices get a little harder with guys like Palat, Miller, Johnson etc. I've always loved J.T. as a player, if a team somehow agrees to also take on Callahan as part of the deal then they might not have to give up as much.

That defense might be getting an overhaul, and it kinda needs one. Stralman ended up being a bad bet--very good player but simply got too banged up too often. And then for some reason Yzerman lost his mind and thought Girardi was a good signing, making a blueline corps that was kinda slow even slower. Coburn only stays if he takes a massive discount.

I suppose they can make a run at Karlsson...but don't they need to clear off even more cap room then?

Is there any concern about Hedman's durability going forward? This is the second year in a row he missed major time due to injury, and was clearly not ready to play this postseason.

Cooper is one of the best coaches in the league, but he's rightfully getting flack for not sitting Vasilevskiy down the stretch. Once the Prez was secured Domingue should have gotten a majority of the starts.

Author:  E.L. [ Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Coburn takes a paycut to stay in TBay for two more years.

Author:  E.L. [ Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Stanley Cup hero Patrick Maroon signs a sweetheart one-year deal to try for another Cup in TBay.

I'm glad he got a big goal because it was clear the pressure of playing in his hometown affected Maroon during his time in St. Louis.

Author:  Pokecheque [ Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

E.L. wrote:
Stanley Cup hero Patrick Maroon signs a sweetheart one-year deal to try for another Cup in TBay.

I'm glad he got a big goal because it was clear the pressure of playing in his hometown affected Maroon during his time in St. Louis.


He really isn't much more than a 4th liner at this point anyway. The only time he saw scoring line minutes regularly IIRC was when he was alongside elite talents like Perry/Getzlaf or McDavid/Draisaitl. He was also never gonna see a ton of ice time with all the depth St. Loo had. Their 4th line was a 4th line in name only. Their ice time at certain points actually exceeded that of Ryan O'Reilly.

Certainly don't blame them for signing him though, what have they got to lose? Tampa is one of those teams that actually isn't nearly as fast as you'd think an elite team is, so he's a better fit there than he'd be with other top teams.

Author:  Logical Progression [ Tue Aug 27, 2019 9:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Pokecheque wrote:
E.L. wrote:
Stanley Cup hero Patrick Maroon signs a sweetheart one-year deal to try for another Cup in TBay.

I'm glad he got a big goal because it was clear the pressure of playing in his hometown affected Maroon during his time in St. Louis.
He really isn't much more than a 4th liner at this point anyway. The only time he saw scoring line minutes regularly IIRC was when he was alongside elite talents like Perry/Getzlaf or McDavid/Draisaitl. He was also never gonna see a ton of ice time with all the depth St. Loo had. Their 4th line was a 4th line in name only. Their ice time at certain points actually exceeded that of Ryan O'Reilly.

Certainly don't blame them for signing him though, what have they got to lose? Tampa is one of those teams that actually isn't nearly as fast as you'd think an elite team is, so he's a better fit there than he'd be with other top teams.
Is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for Tampa? Seems to me that Maroon was more of a "heart" signing, which would indicate they need more of it but who knows, maybe it just comes down to roster management. It's hard to dominate that long with that degree of talent and come up so flat. They could win the President's trophy again or just miss the playoffs. Either way, Coop must be on the hot seat.

Author:  Pokecheque [ Wed Aug 28, 2019 12:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Logical Progression wrote:
Is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for Tampa? Seems to me that Maroon was more of a "heart" signing, which would indicate they need more of it but who knows, maybe it just comes down to roster management. It's hard to dominate that long with that degree of talent and come up so flat. They could win the President's trophy again or just miss the playoffs. Either way, Coop must be on the hot seat.


Hard to say. I would say their window is officially beginning to close now that they no longer have any core players on ELCs and Brayden Point is up for a huge raise. Stamkos is on the verge of 30, Kucherov is 26, Hedman 28, Vasilevskiy 25. The good news for them is that Point is still ridiculously young at 23, and they somehow keep finding astoundingly good talent (like Point) in later rounds. I think they have 2 years before we start seeing Stamkos hit his decline, then I think they might be in a bit of trouble. Also by then they'll have to start jettisoning more and more talent on the fringes because the core players are getting too expensive. If they don't win a Cup in the next 2-3 years, I can't help but think they won't with the current core.

Cooper probably is on the hot seat, yeah. Come next year at least a couple decent candidates will be on the market, and if they have another disappointing finish BriseBois may opt to move in a different direction, though I think he signed a relatively cheap extension, so he has that going for him.

Author:  E.L. [ Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Brayden Point: 3 years/$6.75M AAV

Author:  Pokecheque [ Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Did not expect for the Mikko situation to drag on longer than both Marner and Point.

Author:  E.L. [ Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

They might be good enough now. Dispatched the Bruins in 5.

Author:  Logical Progression [ Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

E.L. wrote:
They might be good enough now. Dispatched the Bruins in 5.
Vegas will bring them to their knees.

Author:  E.L. [ Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Logical Progression wrote:
E.L. wrote:
They might be good enough now. Dispatched the Bruins in 5.
Vegas will bring them to their knees.


That would be one hell of a final...

Author:  Chris18 [ Tue Sep 01, 2020 7:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Lightning are really good (but not good enough)

Logical Progression wrote:
E.L. wrote:
They might be good enough now. Dispatched the Bruins in 5.
Vegas will bring them to their knees.


I'm hoping the Isles do first. Hoping.

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