TAMPA — For the longest time, the captain’s satisfaction served the Lightning nicely.
Steven Stamkos helped create — and implement — a sure commonplace within the Tampa Bay locker room. He was the conduit between the teaching employees and the gamers. He was the unofficial spokesperson when issues went south and the participant others turned to for assist, recommendation and inspiration.
And when the crew reached a crossroads final summer season the place expertise and the wage cap had begun to diverge in severe methods, the captain’s satisfaction rescued the Lightning another time.
Even when it was utterly unintentional.
On the eve of one other postseason, the reinvention of the Lightning is a exceptional story of foresight, execution and daring.
After three consecutive journeys to the Stanley Cup Last from 2020-22, the mixture of age and salary-cap restraints had diminished the Tampa Bay roster. The Lightning had been bounced out of the playoffs within the first spherical in consecutive seasons, and their peripherals weren’t promising.
Their once-formidable protection had slipped to twenty third within the NHL in targets allowed. Simply as regarding, with a roster of stars, they’d been outscored 190-172 in 5-on-5 conditions. The Lightning weren’t simply heading within the mistaken course, they have been near arrival.
That made final summer season a vital juncture within the crew’s future. After dancing round a virtually stagnant wage cap — a mixed $2 million improve throughout 4 seasons — the NHL boosted the utmost payroll by $4.5 million for this season to $88 million.
Between the cap improve and the tip of a Stamkos contract that was paying him $8.5 million a 12 months, Lightning common supervisor Julien BriseBois lastly had the pliability for vital upgrades.
The broad strokes of a technique emerged.
Reacquire defenseman Ryan McDonagh from Nashville to solidify the blue line, signal Stamkos to a diminished wage and discover a complementary ahead who might add some stability to the Lightning’s 200-foot sport.
The McDonagh commerce got here off with out a hitch. The Predators needed salary-cap flexibility of their very own and agreed to deal the veteran in an alternate of draft picks.
It was the second a part of the equation — re-signing Stamkos — that turned a sticking level. Between his age (34 on the time) and diminished worth in even-strength conditions, BriseBois was now not prepared to pay his captain an upper-echelon wage.
Stamkos had all the time carried himself with an admirable sense of humility, however that didn’t imply he was devoid of satisfaction. He was bothered by the diminished wage provide and declined to signal. Free company was across the nook, and he appeared prepared to check the market.
Which compelled BriseBois to readjust his plan.
If the unthinkable was now in play — the opportunity of a Stamkos-less lineup — BriseBois was open to an excellent higher reimagining of the roster. Whereas the Lightning have been aggressive in tying up their very own gamers to long-term contracts, they’ve been much less prepared to dip into high-end free-agent offers.
That reticence modified with Jake Guentzel’s availability.
In Tampa Bay’s considering, Guentzel was essentially the most full ahead on the open market in 5 seasons or extra. However signing Guentzel would take a proposal that was most likely double the annual wage the Lightning have been at the moment providing Stamkos. That meant BriseBois wanted to search out much more salary-cap room to make a run at Guentzel.
It was already getting late in the summertime — only a week earlier than the NHL draft — when the Lightning started critically pondering the thought of transferring Mikhail Sergachev. He was 26, had dimension, skating potential, might run the facility play and was signed to a long-term deal. Shedding Sergachev was not one thing the Lightning had beforehand contemplated, however bringing McDonagh again to Tampa Bay made it a better tablet to swallow.
Buying and selling Sergachev wouldn’t solely give BriseBois the cap flexibility to chase Guentzel, it might additionally deliver again high quality gamers in return. So, in a 24-hour interval, the Bolts dealt Sergachev to Utah for defenseman J.J. Moser and ahead prospect Conor Geekie after which acquired Guentzel from Carolina and signed him to a 7-year, $63 million deal simply hours earlier than he turned a free agent.
Later within the day, Stamkos signed a 4-year, $32 million contract with Nashville, and the makeover was full.
Guentzel would exchange Stamkos within the ahead group, and McDonagh and Moser have been now a part of Tampa Bay’s top-four defensemen with Sergachev out of the image.
Looking back, the captain’s refusal to simply accept a roughly 50% reduce in annual wage had disrupted the crew’s deliberate makeover, however BriseBois had improvised and provide you with an excellent stronger plan.
How did it work?
With McDonagh offering a extra defense-first fashion and Stamkos-level management, the Lightning have gone from twenty third in targets allowed to fourth. And that 190-172 deficit in 5-on-5 play was reversed to a 186-144 surplus. That’s an enchancment from minus-18 to plus-42 in a single season.
The ability play and penalty kill are each among the many prime six within the league, and Tampa Bay’s regular-season factors proportion was again above .600 for the primary time since its final Stanley Cup Last look in 2022.
Guentzel can also be 5 years youthful than Stamkos, Moser is 2 years youthful than Sergachev and Geekie, at 20, is one of the best ahead prospect Tampa Bay has.
Does any of that assure the Lightning will keep away from one other first-round departure?
After all not.
Technically, they might be slight favorites towards Florida, however the Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions and routed the Lightning within the first spherical of the 2024 postseason.
However that is arguably one of the best model of the Lightning within the final three seasons, and the crew can also be arrange for the longer term with the contemporary blood added to the roster.
For all of the wailing and finger-pointing when Stamkos was not re-signed final summer season, the Lightning’s confidence and resolve to not overpay for a star in his twilight years could have set Tampa Bay on one other path to postseason glory.
Up subsequent …
Lightning vs. Panthers
When: 8:30, Tuesday, Amalie Area
TV: ESPN, FDSN
