Aside from the ageless Martin St. Louis and a handful of others, this Lightning team is a very young one. Tampa Bay is a team in transition with a bevy of talented prospects like J.T. Brown, Richard Panik, Tyler Johnson and Brett Connolly. Led by veterans St. Louis and five year superstar Steven Stamkos, the Bolts refuse to admit they are rebuilding. “To me, when a team is rebuilding, it's more that the young kids are not really ready but you still go with it,'' St. Louis said. “I feel like we have young players, quality players. Those guys when they come into the league at 18 or 19, they are impact players right away. So that doesn't mean you are rebuilding, that means you get better right away. That's the way I look at it. I don't look at it that we are rebuilding.”
The captaincy - With the exit of Vincent Lecavalier, the captaincy of the Bolts is in question. The organization will name a captain on October 1st and certainly, the “Heart and Soul” of the Lightning will get the “C” stitched on his sweater. Marty St. Louis is the unquestioned leader of the Bolts and candidate Steven Stamkos agrees, “Marty is a guy that I've been trying to learn from since day one, everyone knows that,'' Stamkos said. “He's a heart-and-soul guy on this team and he's been here for a long time. He'd get my vote.''
The new defensive identity – Head coach Jon Cooper is well aware that over the last two seasons, the Lightning have given up a total of 425 goals, (29 more than any other team) by far the worse total in the NHL. Cooper has told his top forwards that they have as much defensive responsibility as the defensemen and goalies, "We're not just talking about Stamkos and St. Louis," Cooper said. "We're talking about the (Ryan) Malones, the (Alex) Killorns and the (Teddy) Purcells. It's not like these guys can't play D. They've all done it. They've all got pretty good habits. It's just the point of all five guys (on the ice) doing it together."
Cooper said that he will devote more than half of training camp to working on defense. "You can't rely on your goaltender to make every single save," Cooper said. "It's not much fun playing D. It's much more fun to score goals. Do you need to score goals? Yes, but to win in this league its premier to keep the puck out of your net."
The Forwards – With the new defensive philosophy in place, the Bolts will need their forwards to buy in and be responsible. Will the two top NHL point producers, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos buy in? There is no one better to convince them than GM Steve Yzerman who, as a 65 goal scorer, changed his game at the request of coach Scotty Bowman which resulted in the Red Wings winning three Stanley Cups.
The Bolts need to find more offensive production away from St. Louis (17 goals, 60 points in 48 games) and Stamkos (29 goals, 59 points in 48 games). Teddy Purcell, Alex Killorn and newcomer Valtteri Filppula could be the players that fulfill that role. Purcell (11 goals, 36 points in 48 games) and Filppula (9 goals, 17 points in 41 games) playing together will provide some firepower. Killorn (7 goals, 19 points in 38 games) looks like he is primed for a breakout season after a solid rookie campaign last year.
After rushing his very first draft pick, Brett Connolly, to the NHL, GM Steve Yzerman let him work on his game at Syracuse last season. Connolly responded with 31 goals and 63 points in 71 games, his best pro season. The move seems to have worked as Connolly has been a force in the preseason games and looks NHL ready.
Number three overall pick, Jonathan Drouin has shown flashes of brilliance but may not be ready to play in the NHL this season. With the history of rushing Connolly, it is entirely possible that the Lightning will bring Drouin along slowly.
Nate Thompson will never be a scorer, but is a valuable component, especially in a more defensive focused scheme. He is a solid penalty killer, won over half of his faceoffs and led the Lightning forwards in hits last season.
Prediction – Brett Connolly will make the NHL team. Valtteri Filppula wil be a 25 goal, 60 point man. Ryan Malone will stay relatively healthy and have a rebound year (20 goals, 50 points).
The Defensemen – Plain and simple, the Lightning need to be much better on defense. Many have criticized General Manager Steve Yzerman for passing on defensemen through the draft and in free agency, but the Bolts have a solid mix of veterans and young up-and-comers along the blue line. "I like our mix on defense with veteran stability and some young players," Coach Cooper said. Tampa Bay’s top six defensemen are all hitters and positive +/- players: Eric Brewer (88 hits,+3), Keith Aulie (91 hits,+1), Radko Gudas (87 hits,+3), Sami Salo (40 hits,+5), Matt Carle (32 hits,+1) and Victor Hedman (56 hits,+1). Prospects Mark Barberio and Andrej Sustr have the opportunity to earn an NHL promotion.
Radko Gudas is just what the Lightning needs to compete for the playoffs. He brings the missing physicality to the Bolts blue line. “The Beard” had a staggering 87 hits in 22 games last season. Before his call-up, Tampa Bay gave up 3.12 goals per game. In 22 games after his call-up, the Lightning lowered that mark to 3.00.
Prediction – Victor Hedman will be a big offensive contributor (35-40 points), while continuing his stellar play in the defensive zone. Radko Gudas will become a top four defenseman.
The Goalies - Ben Bishop (3-4-1, 2.99 GAA, .917 save percentage as a starter) and Anders Lindback (10-10-1, 2.90 GAA, .902 save percentage) will battle for the number one goaltender spot. "It's wide open," Coach Jon Cooper stated. "I told both goalies that we're in the business of winning hockey games so I'm not really concerned about personal statistics. The goalie that gets us wins is the guy that eventually may push the other to the side."
While Bishop has never started a season as the number one netminder, the opportunity will be enough to inspire him to be a consistent performer.
Prediction - Big Ben Bishop will grab hold of the starting job in between the pipes in Tampa Bay.
The future looks bright for the Bolts. Jon Cooper is a winner and he will make the Lightning a winner. The offense will be outstanding and the defense and goaltending much improved. Tampa Bay will challenge for the last playoff spot.
W.B. Philp is the Founder and Chief Editor of LightningShout, a comprehensive Tampa Bay Lightning website. He’s also a serial hockey blogger, including over at HockeyIndependent.com, Melrose hater, instigator, agitator and vindicator
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