KEY ADDITIONS				KEY LOSSES
Name Dan Cloutier Andreas Johansson Shawn Burr Steve Guolla Andrei Zyuzin Bill Houlder	Pos. G F F F D D	From Rangers Senators Sharks Sharks Sharks Sharks		Name Corey Schwab Niklas Sundstrom Rob Zamuner Jason Bonsignore	Pos. G F F F	To Thrashers Sharks Senators Maple Leafs

Outlook
You know the saying what goes up must come down? Well, the opposite holds true for Tampa Bay.

		The Lightning just need improvement. They have a solid owner now, a professional sports owner who won't try to change things overnight. He knows it will take time. General manager Rick Dudley is a proven hockey man. He has won at other levels as a GM. The Lightning got deeper already with some good trades, adding defensemen Andrei Zyuzin and Bill Houlder, and Dan Cloutier, a quality young goalie. The Lightning won't treat the future like it's a sprint. They will continue to build with draft choices and trades. Now they have money and solid ownership and management. Tampa Bay won't be a playoff team this year, but maybe in another year or two. It depends on the Lightning draft picks, players like Vincent Lecavalier. They lost Wendel Clark last year and need some leadership. But the biggest change is stability. Tampa Bay is a very stable organization now.

The club has nowhere to go but up this season after registering just 19 wins last season.

Lots of new faces have been brought in. General manager Rick Dudley did not waste time re-tooling the roster and bringing in fresh blood behind the bench in Steve Ludzik.

The Lightning's strength lies between the pipes in youngsters Dan Cloutier and Kevin Hodson. And if veteran Daren Puppa can stick with the club and stay healthy, that would be a bonus.

Tampa finished dead last in offense last season with a paltry 179 goals. Guess what? The Lightning will finish near or at the bottom once again. Stephane Richer, Darcy Tucker and sophomore center Vincent Lecavalier will carry the load, but whether anyone else can score remains to be seen. If Chris Gratton can return to his 30-goal form of two years ago, that will help.

Pavel Kubina and veteran Petr Svoboda have been paired together to form a nice 1-2 punch on the blueline. Surprisingly, the club is beginning to add depth to this position. Sergey Gusev, Paul Mara and Andrei Zyuzin are all under 25 and have promising careers ahead of them.

Tampa's trouble this season will be up front, and goals will be scarce. That is why they won't make the playoffs, and look for Ludzik to implement a defense-first system.

'98-99 SOUTHEAST STANDINGS
TEAM	W	L	T	Pts.
Carolina	34	30	18	86
Florida	30	34	18	78
Washington	31	45	6	68
Tampa Bay	19	54	9	47

The bottom line
Better or not: Better
By how much: 5 more wins
Most improved: Vincent Lecavalier
Most valuable: Darcy Tucker
Biggest disappointment: Alexandre Daigle

Charles Avellino is a lead NHL researcher for ESPN.