Despite coming up short of a Stanley Cup, the Tampa Bay Lighting’s 2017-18 season contained its share of accomplishments. After setting multiple franchise records and winning the Atlantic Divison, the Lightning didn’t add or lose any key core players this offseason. But with almost the same roster as last year returning, can Tampa Bay be even better next year?
Much of the Lightning’s success came on the back of a high-powered offense. They led all NHL teams in goals scored with 290 goals, 17 more than the second-highest scoring team the Winnipeg Jets. Add to this a Norris Trophy winner in Victor Hedman and a Vezina trophy finalist in Andrei Vasilevskiy, and its almost hard to imagine Tampa Bay has room to improve. However, there is room for improvement, especially after seeing their season end on a sour note in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The penalty killing unit killed the Lightning
Tampa Bay’s penalty kill was bad. In fact, it was painful to watch at times. It was bad enough to earn them the fourth-worst penalty kill percentage in the league. For all of Tampa Bay’s offensive success last season, their defensive and penalty killing efforts let them down. It’s hard to imagine a team with Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy could have such a poor penalty kill percentage. Tampa Bay even traded for Ryan McDonough at the trade deadline in an attempt to improve their performance on the PK.
So if the problem isn’t the players, then what is it? One would only have to watch a few minutes of Lightning film to see the answer. Tampa Bay ran one of the most passive penalties killing systems. They played a passive box style that didn’t apply any pressure to the opposing team. Many other teams in the league will allow one or both forwards to put pressure on the puck carrier to prevent a team from getting comfortable in the offensive zone. Tampa Bay gave teams plenty of room to get comfortable putting no pressure on them. Opponents would pass the puck, opening up shooting lanes, and waiting for their opportunity to score, and many times they found that opportunity.
Out with the old, in with the new
Rick Bowness who was the assistant coach in charge of the blue line and penalty kill last year and the poor performance of his unit earned him an early departure from the team. Assistant coach Todd Richards, who has been with the Lightning since 2016, has been joined on head coach Jon Cooper’s staff by Jeff Halpern and Derek Lalonde. Halpern was an assistant in Syracuse, while Lalonde was the head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
Tampa Bay was good, if not great, in almost every statistical category last year. Perhaps the fresh blood on the coaching staff can help bring about improvement on the penalty kill. If so, this could help translate to more wins in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Possible line changes
Assuming the roster doesn’t change before Opening Night at Amalie Arena, could we see some changes in the lines? One possibility could be Brayden Point on the top line. Point has shown an innate ability to score in big moments. The only reason he isn’t on the top line already is Steven Stamkos is Tampa Bay’s number one center and will be for the foreseeable future. An interesting thing to remember is on the power play, Stamkos moves to the left wing, which gives him more room for his incredibly accurate slap shot. Towards the end of the season and in the playoffs, Point was used at center when Stamkos was at left wing on the power play. Could Tampa Bay use a top line made up of Stamkos, Point, and Kucherov more often next season?
If Point does move up to the top line the most likely candidate to replace him on what Tampa Bay uses as their shut down line would be Anthony Cirelli. Cirelli was called up from Syracuse last season and got to showcase his two-way ability early and often. He saw extensive time on the penalty kill and third and fourth lines for Tampa Bay. His play after being called up in March earned him a roster spot and maybe more ice time next season.
Is it October yet?
The offseason isn’t over yet and there could still be a big move that shakes up the roster. For now, the usual suspects make up the majority of the roster. Barring any trades, any changes from within, whether they be line changes or tweaks to the PK, will come from the coaching staff. A new penalty kill philosophy would be a welcome change. Only time will tell what kind of changes, if any, we see from the Lightning heading into next season and what will unfold as the season moves along.
