As the old year ends and a new year begins, the Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in the thick of the early NHL playoff race. With 34 games under their belts, the Bolts are fourth in the Atlantic Division and the top Wild Card in the Eastern Conference. After an uncertain offseason, Captain Victor Hedman and the Lightning answered some questions early in the 2024-25 season. Still, they also created some new ones along the way.
How did the Lightning do in 2024? They made strides this season with scoring, leading the NHL with 3.94 goals a game average. The Bolts’ power play ranks third in the league at 26.9%. The penalty kill ranks in the top 10 at 81.4%. As 2025 rolls in, there are several things to review at year’s end.
Hedman Answers the Call to Lightning Captaincy
The biggest story of the 2024 offseason was undoubtedly the loss of former Bolt Captain Steven Stamkos to the Nashville Predators. After 16 seasons with Tampa Bay, Stamkos found a better deal in Tennessee. Victor Hedman was chosen as the franchise’s 12th captain.
Hedman has had a decent start to his season statistically, with four goals and 24 assists. His leadership has proven invaluable this season as the defense is working on creating a positive identity (more on that later). His teammates and coaches praise his work ethic, and fans have embraced him as the new captain.
On Saturday night, Hedman passed Stamkos with 1,083 games played in Lightning colors, the most played in franchise history.
Vasilevskiy Sets Milestones
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy set some career milestones in 2024. The Russian phenom became the fastest player in NHL history to win 300 career games. On November 14th, he stopped 23 of 24 shots he faced in a 4-1 win against Winnipeg to earn the milestone. Then, a month later, he played in his 500th career game in an 8-3 victory in Calgary against the Flames on December 12th.
The team recognized Vasilevskiy with gifts, including a gold stick for 300 wins and a silver one for 500 games.
There has been some discussion on whether Vasilevskiy has peaked as an elite goalie in the NHL. The 30-year-old still ranks in the top 10 in the league in save percentage (.913), goals against average (2.39), and wins (16).
Could his defense better protect the puck in front of him? Absolutely! This season, issues with turnovers deep in the defensive zone have plagued the Bolts. Nonetheless, Vasilevskiy has continued to do the job needed.
He’s kept the Lightning in contention in most games he’s played in, win or lose. He has continued to make the saves he needs to make. He may be aging, but he is still in his prime.
Guentzel Makes a Quick Impact
Several new faces have made it to the ice for the Bolts in 2024. With his fiery play and tenacity, Rookie Conor Geekie made a splash with fans early. The same can be said for Gage Goncalves and J.J. Moser. This season has also seen the return of Ryan McDonagh after a two-year stint with Nashville.
However, no new Bolt has impacted 2024 more than forward Jake Guentzel. With his contract expiring with the Carolina Hurricanes, Guentzel was acquired by Tampa Bay in a trade on June 30th in exchange for a third-round pick in 2025. He would later sign a seven-year, 63-million-dollar contract with the team.
The signing seemed to prepare for Stamkos’s loss a day later when free agency opened on July 1st. Indeed, the signing became a brilliant move by Lightning General Manager Julian BriseBois. Guentzel has exceeded expectations.
The forward from Minnesota scored 20 goals with 17 assists and a plus-10. His addition to the first line with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point has almost erased any question on whether the Bolts miss Stamkos. Where Stamkos started to lack during 5-on-5 play, Guentzel has helped the Bolts pick up their even-strength play.
Unfortunately, Guentzel sat out most of the third period in Saturday’s win against the New York Rangers. Listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, his absence from Sunday’s lineup was noticeable. The Bolts struggled with reorganizing the lineups. Hopefully, a few day’s rest will get him back on the ice.
Guentzel will be traveling with the team this upcoming week in anticipation of his return.
Kuch Being Kuch
Nikita Kucherov continues to be Nikita Kucherov as 2024 comes to an end. The reigning NHL points leader and two-time Art Ross trophy winner continues to light up the scoreboard with his creativity and agility. His 17 goals and 37 assists (54 points) have him chasing the scoring crown again alongside Nathan McKinnon and Leon Draisaitl.
Kucherov started the season earning points in his first eight games and 15 of his first 16 games. He’s only been held pointless in three games this season, two of which were losses. His play has become so consistent that he is often overshadowed in the league by glitzier players like Connor McDavid.
However, no matter how glitzy other players can be, Kucherov continues to be Kucherov. Indeed, he will need to be to get the Lightning back to the playoffs in 2025.
Point Climbing the Scoring Ladder – Despite Injury
Lightning stalwart Brayden Point missed four key games early in November with a lower-body injury. The loss of Point during that stretch was a factor during the Bolts’ four-game losing streak, which shows the importance of having him in the lineup.
Despite the two-week absence, the star center has scored 23 goals in 30 games. That has placed him tied for second in the NHL in goals scored, only three behind Draisaitl. Adding a healthy Guentzel to the first line and the always-dependable Kucherov on the other side has upped the creativity of Point down the middle. Point has also earned 20 assists.
That chemistry will be needed if the Lightning seek a potentially deep playoff run.
O Lightning Defense, Where Art thou?
As we discussed earlier, some key facets of the Tampa Bay Lightning game need to be addressed. Most importantly, the defense—or lack thereof at times—needs to be improved.
As evidenced by the final few games of 2024, the Lightning defense has seen plenty of room for improvement going into the new year. Losses to Florida and Montreal, and even the win against the Rangers in the year’s final week, highlighted the need to be better.
Lackluster play in the defensive and neutral zones led to turnovers, giveaways, and scoring chances for opponents. Special teams gave up two shorthanded goals on the same Lightning power play during their loss to Florida on December 22nd. Montreal was dominant Sunday evening against the Bolts, moving the puck with ease in front of Jonas Johansson.
The team is fully aware of the issues at hand and thinks it knows what to do to improve.
“We just need to be better,” Brandon Hagel said Sunday. “And I think the group in here knows that. We know how to win games. We’ve been doing it for a while now.”
“Now we have to go on the road and play some pretty good hockey.”
Hedman was much more contrite after Sunday’s loss.
“We keep giving up pucks. It’s not acceptable,” Hedman lamented. “We have got to do a better job.”
What does the start of 2025 need?
Head Coach Jon Cooper examined the end of 2024 and offered some thoughts on how to improve as the team enters 2025.
“We’ve had a really good stretch of games, especially the month of December,” Cooper said. “We’ve been playing a pretty predictable, consistent way for quite some time.”
“I don’t know if we just played some pretty good hockey for a while, and we’ve just taken a step back in the mentality of how we play. We’ve turned the puck over too much.”
Cooper stated that in order to work on the issues, there needs to be a change in thinking.
“Let’s hope we’ve kind of learned. Sometimes you have to go through a rough game to understand, ‘Okay, our stubbornness is not paying off here, and we need to get back to what works for us.'”
