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The Tampa Bay Lightning have been one of the premier teams in the NHL for the last decade. They won the Stanley Cup in both 2020 and 2021, and while they suffered first-round defeats in both of the last two seasons, there is a full-fledged respect around the league when opponents host the Lightning or travel to Amalie Arena.
That's because the Lightning have some of the most impressive offensive talent in the league. The combination of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point on the No. 1 line is formidable, and the Lightning have added former Pittsburgh Penguin sniper Jake Guentzel to that duo.
Guentzel was traded by the Penguins to the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline, and when the Hurricanes could not entice their acquisition to sign a new contract, they traded him to the Lightning shortly before the start of free agency. Clearly Guentzel was happy with the move, because he signed a seven-year, $63 million deal with the Lightning.
Lightning have impressive firepower
Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois is expecting the Kucherov-Point-Guentzel line to be the best in the league. Kucherov is coming off a sensational 144-point season that included a league-best 100 assists. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer for the second time in his career and finished second in the Hart Trophy race for the NHL's MVP award.
Point is one of the quickest and most explosive centers in the league and he is coming off a 46-goal, 44-assist season that also included 12 game-winning goals.
Guentzel scored 30 goals last year during his season with the Penguins and Hurricanes. He has scored 30 goals or more in each of his last four season, including a career-best 40 in 2021-22.
In addition to the stars on the top line, the Lightning also have key contributors up front Anthony Cirelli, Cam Atkinson, Conor Sheary and Nicholas Paul. Defenseman Victor Hedman remains a game-changer on the blue line who can swing a game in the Lightning's favor with his offensive skills as well as his stalwart defensive play.
Identity of Lightning has changed
While Tampa Bay looks to have plenty of firepower and the Lightning still has one of the best goalies in the NHL Andrei Vasilevskiy, they no longer have explosive center Steven Stamkos or defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. Stamkos, the leading scorer in Lightning history, was allowed to leave through free agency and sign with the Nashville Predators. Sergachev was traded to the Utah HC after an injury-plagued 2023-24 season.
The loss of Stamkos may be difficult for the Lightning to absorb. Guentzel might be able to come close to his scoring totals, but Stamkos was a selfless leader throughout his Tampa Bay career. He always played and led in a courageous manner, and he had the toughness to block shots and absorb punishment when other players wouldn't
There was no better example than the the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals when Stamkos took a slapshot in the shield from Boston's hard-shooting defenseman Johnny Boychuk in Game 7. The blast splattered Stamkos's nose, but he was back on the ice after missing three shifts. The Lightning suffered a 1-0 defeat, but there was no doubting Stamkos after that.
Regression for Ryan McDonagh and Brandon Hagel
Ryan McDonagh is returning to the Lightning after the 35-year-old was traded back to Tampa Bay after two seasons with the Nashville Predators.
He is overjoyed to be back with the team.
“I never thought there was a chance of this happening again, at least in the near term, but it’s happened now and it’s exciting again to feel that belief in the guys that we have and the excitement around it,” McDonagh said.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of work ahead to be done. But you’re willing to put in that work because you know the group has the right character behind it. I couldn’t be more excited to be joining Tampa again.”
The 6-1, 215-pound McDonagh is a bruising defenseman, but he is clearly approaching the final years of his career. He is tough and hard hitting, but McDonagh has lost a step or more in recent years.
He has not scored more than four goals in any of his last five seasons, and it may be a problem for him to keep up with the swiftest and most talented forwards in the league at this point.
There is no doubt that McDonagh has the intelligence to make smart plays when he has an opening to skate with the puck, but quicker players can force him into mistakes from time to time.
Hagel has been productive, but can it continue?
Forward Brandon Hagel played the first three seasons of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks before the Lightning acquired him in a midseason trade in 2022.
He scored 30 goals in 2022-23, his first full season with the Lightning, and that was a sensational achievement for head coach Jon Cooper's team. He was solid last season as well with 26 goals and 49 assists in 82 games.
However, now that Hagel has established himself as a solid offensive threat, opposing teams are going to look out for him. His background with a struggling team like the Blackhawks may have made him easy to overlook, but that is not the case any longer. Hagel will find it much more difficult to have the space he needs to play consistently on the offensive end.
A downturn seems likely for him in 2024-25.
