Herrejon: Taking a look at the Lightning’s chances in the Atlantic Division

By Dan Herrejon | @DanHerrejon | Like us on Facebook
October 2, 2017

The 2017-18 NHL Season is upon us. A clean slate for your Tampa Bay Lightning. The new beginning for the majority of the players to forget about last season’s disappointing end missing the playoffs.

Many NHL prognosticators believe that not only do the Lightning will bounce back into the playoffs, many preseason predictions have the Bolts winning the Atlantic Division.

As we head into the opening week of the marathon known as the NHL season, let’s take a look at what is in store for the Lightning in the Atlantic this year.

The team that should be in the running for the cream of the Atlantic with the Bolts will be the Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa is coming off a very impressive and lengthy playoff run. They were one goal away from playing in the Stanley Cup Final after losing to eventual Cup Champion, Pittsburgh Penguins in double overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last Spring.

The Senators, coached by Guy Boucher played a game reminiscent of the 2010-11 Lightning team also coached by Boucher. That Lightning team missed the playoffs the season before but improved 23 points in Boucher’s initial season behind the bench. Last season, Ottawa improved 13 points to go from missing the playoffs to the conference finals.

The other contending teams for the tops spot in the division besides the Lightning and the Senators are the usual suspects. The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins should prove to be the biggest challengers for the divisional crown.

Both of these Original 6 teams have elite goalies in Carey Price and Tuuka Rask, respectively. These netminders are the type that can carry an NHL team into the postseason. Like all teams on the eve of the season, both of these contenders have some questions that the season will answer.

For Montreal, the big question is a familiar name in Tampa, Jonathan Drouin. Will the trade from the Bolts to his hometown team be the positive change for Drouin or will the fishbowl of playing for Les Habs be too much for the kid with amazing offensive talent?

Boston has questions themselves. For the B’s, it is the age-old question of well, age. Zdeno Chara, 40 years young, is lacing them up for his 20th NHL season. Patrice Bergeron, David Backes, David Kreci and Rask are all on the wrong side of 30. Will the grind of the season take its toll in Beantown?

The division does have two young but up and coming teams in the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto edged out the Lightning last season to earn their second playoff berth in the last twelve seasons. The Sabres missed the postseason but like the Leafs have several young, exciting players on their rosters.

In Buffalo, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane can score, have speed and can all create scoring chances. The challenge for this team will be adjusting to the coaching change from Dan Byslma to Phil Housely.

For Toronto, the Leafs have Mike Babcock coaching a team with some young stars such as Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Matthews is the reigning Calder Trophy winner. The Leafs will make some noise but for both these young teams, can they make the move to being a solid playoff team in this division?

Bringing up the rear in the Atlantic will be the Florida Panthers and the Detroit Red Wings. The Panthers are two years removed from being kings of the division to having a myriad of questions going into the current season.

Gone are Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Marchessault. While there is still some remaining talent, will they be able to score consistently enough to make the playoffs? For Detroit, the organization that missed the playoffs last season for the first time in 25 seasons, they are in new territory for the franchise.

There are far too many questions and unknowns for Detroit and Florida that any real push for the playoffs will be a real surprise to most NHL fans.

For the Lightning, the biggest hurdle will prove to be inside their own locker room. Can this team stay healthy enough for not only the divisional race but for a long and successful playoff run?

There is no question that having a fully recuperated Steven Stamkos goes a long way towards righting the ship. Add to that, getting Ryan Callahan ready to go from opening night will boost the morale of the team exponentially.

There is a tremendous nucleus of offensive talent on the Lightning’s roster. Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point should all have strong offensive production this year.

The addition of Chris Kunitz should be a boon to the younger players on the team. Who couldn’t learn something from a four-time Stanley Cup champion?

Perhaps the young guys rally around getting “one for the thumb” for Kunitz. The biggest hurdle for the forwards will be overcoming the injuries that plague every NHL team.

Among the defensive corps, General Manager Steve Yzerman has brought in Dan Girardi, formerly of the New York Rangers. He should help some of the younger D-men like Slater Koekkoek, Jake Dotchin and Mikhail Sergachev.

In net, the Lightning are Andrei Vasilevskiy’s team now. He is the number one. Vasy’s abilities and experience belies his age. At 23 years of age, he has been in two Eastern Conference Finals and has even started a Stanley Cup Final game.

In international play, Vasilevskiy has won the IIHF World Championship for Russia. Did I mention he is only 23 years old? Clearly, the kid has chops.

Ultimately, the Lightning seem to be the class of the Atlantic. How far they go this year will depend on their ability to stay healthy and focused. Like many teams, their biggest opponent stares at them from every mirror in the building.