Top 10 Lightning story lines from 2016



by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 1, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – It was quite a dramatic year for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

There were plenty of storylines and drama that unfolded to fill a prime time soap opera that would rival Dallas, short of any “Who Shot J.R.” cliffhangers (look it up, it was the event of that television season).

That left plenty of options to choose from to find the top storylines from the 2016 calendar year for this franchise. Click below to see what were the top 10 of the year, in no particular order.

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Stamkos signs long term

It was the biggest storyline surrounding the Lightning for more than a calendar year. Will he or won’t he?

Stamkos was set to become an unrestricted agent and would have become the biggest name in the salary cap era to be available for teams to openly pursue. Everywhere the Lightning went throughout the season, Stamkos was constantly asked about his status, would he re-sign with the Lightning or find a new place to call his NHL home.

Every move he made was scrutinized – including a slippage of the thumb on his Twitter account – as clues to his intentions were constantly sought. A Toronto radio station printed out “Sign Stamkos’’ signs for the Lightning’s first visit to Air Canada Centre.

But as July 1 drew closer and the start of free agency was set to begin, Stamkos met with at least two other teams before following his heart and opting to re-sign with the Lightning for eight years before reaching the open market, accepting less than he could have received on the open market, signing for an annual cap hit of at $8.5 million.

”Staying here in Tampa and being the leader of that team, I felt in my heart that was always the place that I wanted to stay,’’ Stamkos said. “for me it was just following your heart and being loyal to an organization that has brought me up and made me the player the personality that I am today and there are times in life, whether it’s in business or everyday life or sports that you might wander a little bit but I think I knew deep down the whole time that I wanted to be in Tampa.’’

Stamkos diagnosed with blood clot

It was a kick to the gut as just two weeks before the start of the 2016 postseason and Stamkos starting to play his best hockey of the season, Stamkos was diagnosed on April 2 with Effort Thrombosis, a type of vascular issue near the collarbone that required surgery to remove the top rib.

The procedure required 1-3 months to recover, which at the time, might have also ended his time in a Lightning uniform.

Stamkos would eventually return for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Stamkos suffers knee injury

For the second time in seven months, Stamkos suffered an injury that would keep him out of the lineup long term.

After putting behind all the contract issues from the previous season, Stamkos was off to one of the best starts of his career with nine goals and 20 points in 17 games, which put him in the top five in scoring.

But on Nov. 15, on a seemingly innocent play during the first period in Detroit, Stamkos suffered a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. It turned out to be the worst-case scenario with it was revealed Stamkos would undergo surgery to fully repair the meniscus and would miss 3-4 months of time.

”Let’s get us (to the postseason) and give our guy (Stamkos) motivation to come back faster,’’ head coach Jon Cooper said. “And if we put ourselves in to position to make the playoffs, he’ll be back and that will be better than any trade deadline acquisition anybody else is going to get. That’s our goal.’’

Jonathan Drouin saga

What a year it was for Jonathan Drouin, the third overall selection in the 2013 draft.

It started when Drouin was sent to Syracuse in the American Hockey League as his role and ice time was reduced. Two days after being sent down, his agent went public with a trade request that was made two months earlier.

By the middle of January and the trade request had not been granted, Drouin left Syracuse following a morning skate in Toronto and was immediately suspended without pay by the team. In a statement, Drouin’s agent said Drouin returned home to await a trade.

But the trade deadline passed on Feb. 28 and Drouin was still a member of the organization, which led to Drouin requesting a return to the organization in early March. After responding with nine goals in 10 games upon his return to the Crunch, the Lightning called up Drouin with two games remaining in the season and he responded with the game-winning goal in his first game back to clinch home-ice advantage it the first round.

In the post season Drouin led the team with five power play assists and was tied for third with 14 points. He scored four of his five playoff games in the Eastern Conference finals.

Hedman resigns – quickly

After seeing the Stamkos saga unfold throughout the year and the distractions it brought with it, the worry was the same situation would occur regarding defenseman Victor Hedman.

Hedman entered the conversation as one of the top defenseman in the league and considered a candidate for the Norris Trophy. He provided the engine to push the Lightning from the blue line. The Lightning could not afford to see him enter the final year of his contract in a lame duck situation.

It never even came close to that as hours after he was eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1, Hedman was signed to an eight-year contract that will begin with the 2017-18 season, ensuring that Stamkos and Hedman would remain the pillars of the franchise.

”We are a close group and I’ve played with Stammer for seven years so we obviously stay in touch, and these were big decisions for both of us. So it came down to both of us wanting to stay in Tampa,’’ Hedman said at the time. “For me and Stammer, we want to win together and that is a big goal we have to go all the way together with Tampa.’’

Tampa Bay reaches conference final again

Despite injuries to Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman, the Lightning dispatched of Detroit and New York Islanders in the first two rounds in just 10 games, reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive year.

Even after the loss of Ben Bishop to injury in Game 1 against Pittsburgh, the Lightning held a 3-2 series lead behind Andrei Vasilevskiy and the chance to close out the series at home. But a disputed offside call negated an early goal for Tampa in Game 6 and the Penguins took advantage of the momentum. Pittsburgh went on to win Game 7 by a 2-1 score.

Ben Bishop nearly traded

With Bishop set to enter the final year of his contract and Vasilevskiy on the verge of becoming a No. 1 goaltender, the Lightning explored moving Bishop at the draft. A deal between Tampa Bay and Calgary had been agreed upon pending a contract extension for Bishop with the Flames. But the two sides were unable to come to terms on a new deal and Calgary acquired Brian Elliott from St. Louis.

Lightning have the most players at World Cup

No team had more players participate in the World Cup of Hockey than Tampa Bay, which saw 12 players selected for the eight-team tournament. In addition, head coach Jon Cooper served as an assistant coach for Team North America.

The players who participated included: Canada: Steven Stamkos; Finland: Valtteri Filppula; Sweden: Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman; Czech Republic: Ondrej Palat and Andrej Sustr; Russia: Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Nesterov and Andrei Vasilevskiy; United States: Ben Bishop and Team North America: Jonathan Drouin.

Ryan Callahan was originally selected to represent the U.S. but was unable to play after undergoing hip surgery.

Kucherov signs two days before season opener

With the start of the 2016-17 season about to begin, Nikita Kucherov remained unsigned. The restricted free agent, who played at the World Cup with Russia, was believed to be looking for a contract in the range of the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko. But with little salary cap space, the Lightning were not in position to offer that type of a deal without moving salary out.

So two days before the start of the season, Kucherov was signed to a bridge contract for four years, worth $4.766 million annually.

Franchise record winning streak

After hovering around the bottom of the playoff standings throughout the season, Tampa Bay vaulted up the standings with a franchise record nine-game winning streak from Feb. 18 to March 5. The streak started with a shootout victory against Winnipeg and closed with an overtime victory against Carolina. In between, the Lightning won seven games in regulation.

Honorable mention

Tampa Bay announces Marty St. Louis to be first to have jersey retired; Vinny Lecavalier “welcomed home” with pregame ceremony; Brad Richards, Dan Boyle and Lecavalier all announce their retirement; Tampa Bay lands five prospects on Team Canada for the World Junior Championships.

If you have any that I may have missed, leave them in the comments section below.

To all who were willing to read all the way to the bottom, I wish all of you a Happy New Year and may 2017 prove to be the best year for you yet.

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