Tampa BayLightning

    • 1st in Central Division

    Lightning

    NHL

      Which Of The NHL's Best Teams So Far Are For Real?

      It's been about three weeks since the puck dropped on the NHL's abbreviated 2021 regular season, which somehow means nearly 20 percent of the schedule is now complete. The league still has a lot of work cut out for it with a large number of COVID-19 schedule adjustments -- something plenty of sports have had to grapple with over the past year. But the on-ice product has been plenty exciting, with rivalries already beginning to form between teams thrust into new divisions by realignment. Here are some of the elements that have stood out most in the early season data, with an assist from my Elo ratings (and season simulations based on them): The Lightning -- and Stars! -- haven't missed a beat In our season preview, my colleague Terrence Doyle and I noted how both Stanley Cup finalists from a year ago -- the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars -- were potentially weakened for 2021. The Lightning lost high-scoring right wing Nikita Kucherov for at least the regular season with a hip injury, along with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (who signed with Anaheim), while the Stars were down goalie Ben Bishop and center Tyler Seguin with injuries of their own. Dallas was also staring at the prospect of regression to the mean after riding three series upsets to a surprising finals appearance. And yet, both teams have come out...
      • 23d
      • Neil Paine
      Which Of The NHL's Best Teams So Far Are For Real?

      Lightning

      NHL

        The Tampa Bay Lightning Are Skating It Back By Sliding Just Under The Salary Cap

        As the dust cleared and the pucks dropped on the first games of an abbreviated 2021 NHL season, all that stood between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the salary cap limit was $334. General manager Julien BriseBois had the equivalent of just a little more than one personalized Lightning jersey in money left over. BriseBois, a general manager renowned as a "capologist" for handling player contracts and keeping teams compliant with the league's salary cap, had his work cut out for him. After the Lightning won last season's Stanley Cup, they entered the offseason with a little over $5 million to play with and a number of restricted free agents to sign. It's hard enough under normal circumstances for a defending champion team to keep its roster intact. NHL teams are subjected to a hard salary cap limit, meaning they don't even have the option to go over the limit and pay a luxury tax. The Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017 remain the lone team to repeat as champs since the 2004-05 lockout brought us the salary cap. Those Penguins could count on a salary cap rise from $71.4 million during the 2015-16 season to $73 million the next, and they managed to run it back, or skate it back in this case, with little roster turnover. The Lightning last offseason had a core of pricy stars plus...
        • 1M
        • Julian McKenzie
        The Tampa Bay Lightning Are Skating It Back By Sliding Just Under The Salary Cap
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        2021 Central Division Standings

        TeamWLOTLPTS
        Tampa Bay144129
        Florida134329
        Carolina136127
        Chicago117426
        Columbus89521
        Nashville911018
        Detroit713317
        Dallas66416

        2021 Team Leaders

        Goals

        Steven Stamkos

        Steven StamkosC #91

        10
        Power Play Goals5
        shots46

        Assists

        Victor Hedman

        Victor HedmanD #77

        15
        Plus/Minus8
        Power Play Assists10

        Points

        Steven Stamkos

        Steven StamkosC #91

        19
        Goals10
        Assists9

        2021 Team Stats

        Goals For / Game
        3.63
        Goals Against / Game
        2.05
        Power Play %
        27.0
        Penalty Kill %
        88.1

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        Team History

        YearWLOTLPts
        2021144129
        2019-204321692
        2018-1962164128
        2017-1854235113
        2016-1742301094
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