2014-2015 Review

The Tampa Bay Lightning were not a favorite to win the Stanley Cup going into the season, but they were able to shock everyone by winning the Eastern Conference. Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat formed a line of 60 point getters that took the NHL by surprise. Victor Hedman was an elite performer in the playoffs, playing 23 MPG and posting a 11 +/- during the postseason. Ben Bishop was able to solve the Lightnings goalie problems, playing in 25 games during the post season. Even though they lost in the Stanley Cup, the Lightning have to be considered a favorite to win the cup.

New Additions

Erik Condra

The offseason for the Lightning was mainly spent on keeping players under contract. The team was too close to the cap to make any big moves, so they instead focused on finding dependable guys that could fill up time. Condra had a 13 +/- last year and can be depended on to hold his own in a 3rd or 4th line role.

Key Losses

Brenden Morrow

While he is a veteran presence, Morrow is no longer the player he was in his prime. He was only able to score 8 points last year in 70 games, which is a career low for him. Tampa Bay had plenty of players to worry about signing this offseason, and Morrow was apparently not one of them.

Biggest Strength

Defense

Victor Hedman stars arguably the most complete defender group in the NHL. Anton Stralman should join him on the top line again this year, after an impressive 22+/- in the role last year. Jason Garrison may be the most underrated defender in the NHL. In the regular season, Garrison put up 30 points and a 27 +/-. He was the third among defenders in MPG during the post season, and should be again this year. Andrej Sustr, Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle round up the most complete defender corps in the NHL.

Biggest Weakness

Goalies

With a team as good as the Lightning, you have to nitpick in order to find a weakness. In order to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, you need to make sure that you don't have any loose ends. So, when you have to choose between Tampa Bays offense, defense or goaltending to see which is the most unproven, goaltending would have to be the most unproven.

Ben Bishop has been great over the last two years, but he has done that behind a great defense. His .916 SV% was 22nd in the league last year, which is not elite. His back up, Andrei Vasilevskiy, has only played 16 NHL games and can be seen as unproven. Again, I still think that this is a good situation the Lightning have in net, but if  I had to choose one thing that could go wrong, it would be the goaltending.

Bottom Line

I really had to struggle to find a weakness in the defending Eastern Conference Champions. They have to be considered one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They had the best offense last year, and did not lose anyone. They added to their defense last season, and should improve now that they have a season together. Bishop proved himself to be the Lightning’s goalie of the future in last year’s playoffs. They are also young and could improve in every position from last year. Expect the Lightning to be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.

Fantasy Slant

Most Overrated: Steven Stamkos

While Stamkos is for sure one of the best snipers in the NHL, he may not even be on the top line for the Lightning next year. The Tyler Johnson line outplayed Stamkos line despite playing few minutes. Tyler Johnson even managed to tie Stamkos for most points on the team with 72. Expect Stamkos numbers to take a little bit of a dip as the Johnson line begins to get more and more time.

Most Underrated: Alex Killorn

Killorn was the leader among forwards in MPG during the postseason. He also was tied with Stamkos with 18 points, and was also third with 9 goals. You can expect him to get top 6 line minutes this year, more than what he got last year. That means his 15 goals and 38 points scored last year is just the start for the 26 year old.

Biggest Surprise: Jonathan Drouin

Jonathan Drouin has been playing alongside Stamkos this preseason, which means the former third overall pick could be playing on the Stamkos line this season. In his rookie season last year, he was able to get 32 points despite only playing 13:14 MPG. They have big plans for their former third overall pick, and this season could be the start of it.