Why I believe the Tampa Bay Lightning are still THAT team.

BY: Cristina Hauerstein

The Tampa Bay Lightning have had a lot of success for almost a decade- two Stanley Cups and they have made the playoffs eight times in the last nine years. The organization has been able to build a team - on and off the ice - that is close to perfect. There's no doubt that this team can win a third cup within this decade.

The Bolts have NHL superstars Forward Nikita Kucherov, forward Steven Stamkos, defensemen Victor Hedman, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and forward Brayden Point. With all these players healthy, the team is insane. Just like Victor Hedman, who had arguably one of the best seasons in 2021-22 with 20 goals and 65 assists as a defenseman, adding up to a total of 85 points in 82 games.

But it's not just those elite players that makeup a winning team. You have players like forward Ross Colton and forward Anthony Cirelli, who recently signed an eight year contract with the lightning, who are playmakers. Colton with the game winning goal in game 5 against the Montreal Canadiens during the 2021 Stanley Cup finals and it secured the back to back win at home for the team.

Now, soon comes a new season to prepare for and General Manager JuIien BriseBois has taken action this post-season. From trading defensemen Ryan McDonagh to the Nasvhille Predators, Defenseman Jan Rutta to the Pittsburgh Penguins and losing Forward Ondrej Palat to the New Jersey Devils, who where both big parts of the Lightning organization for many years, to Resigning Forward Anthony Cirelli (6.25 M) and Both defensemen, Erik Cernak (5.2 M) and Mikhail Sergachev (8.5 M) all for eight years. Though loosing really important players on and off the ice due to cap space, the team has been able to preserve most of those players who have been in the team at least the past three seasons,a nd that they have proved to be succesful despite the recent loss against the Colorado Avalanche.

The lightning also has players that as new as they are, they have shown that they have value and room to grow, just like defensemen Cal Foote who was drafted in 2017 made really good defensive plays in the 2022 playoffs which saved the team from unwanted opportunities from the opposite team, and forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul who came on the team this past season from other NHL teams and also proved during the playoffs their abilities as offensive players.

All of these players have a lot of chemistry with each other while they play and when they are concentrated and ready to fight they create amazing plays that can lead to wins throughout the season and in the playoffs.