Lightning search for defensive fix

TAMPA, FLA – A year ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning were feeling their collective oats, coming off a year that no one imagined they would have. New ownership, rookie general manager, rookie head coach. Somehow it all added up to a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals where they took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins to the final buzzer of game seven.

Hockey experts wondered how G.M. Steve Yzerman and head coach Guy Boucher would duplicate the magic of their freshman seasons running the hockey operations of a team that looked to be ahead of the learning curve. The answer came quickly but instead of equaling or even surpassing the success of 2010-11, the Lightning looked more like the squads that fell to the bottom of the NHL from 2007-2010.
The Lightning turned out to be quite an enigma. Offensively, they were tied for eighth-most goals during the regular season (232 for an average of 2.83 goals per game). By comparison, a year ago Tampa was tied for seventh-best when they scored 241 goals. Defensively they were dead last thanks to giving up 278 goals (an average of 3.39 per game) after being tied for 21st last season when they gave up 234 goals. The numbers translated into a dip from a 46-25-11 record in 2010-2011 to a 38-36-8 mark in 2011-2012 and an early summer vacation.
Adding to the puzzlement of Lightning fans, the two highest level farm teams have had stellar years. In the ECHL, the Florida Everblades, who Tampa shares with Carolina, won its first ever Kelly Cup by defeating the Las Vegas Wranglers. The Norfolk Admirals, Tampa’s AHL affiliate, ran off 28 consecutive wins late in the regular season and are just two games away from collecting the Calder Cup.
So what were the problems? Offense did not seem to be an issue. Steven Stamkos had another spectacular year, scoring 60 goals and coming up just three points short of 100. Veteran Martin St. Louis put up 74 points while winger Ted Purcell surprised a lot of people by netting 24 goals and 65 total points. Captain Vinny Lecavalier missed time due to injury and fell short of 50 points for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. Only five Bolts topped the 40-point mark as Ryan Malone picked up 48 points in 68 games.
This leads us to the defense and goaltending. As the numbers above show, Tampa had a lot of trouble keeping the puck out of the net. Of the ten defensemen who played this past season, Marc-Andre Bergeron had the best plus/minus rating at a plus-6. He was one of only three blue liners to be in positive numbers (trade deadline acquisition Mike Commodore who played in 13 games and Evan Oberg who dressed for three games were the others). Bergeron was also the top point getter among the defensemen with four goals and 24 points. It didn’t help matters any that Mattias Ohlund missed the entire season injured.
A year ago, the goaltending situation was looking solid after Dwayne Roloson backstopped Tampa’s deep run into the playoffs but 2011-12 was a completely different story. Roloson was a shadow of himself, going 13-16-3 with a 3.66 goals against average and a .886 save percentage. Mathieu Garon, who was brought in to be a back-up to Roloson, was better at 23-16-4 with a 2.85 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.
Seeing his team flailing away after January 1st, Yzerman became “Trader Steve”, making a number of deals. He sent Carter Ashton to Toronto for Keith Aulie on February 27th. By the time all of the dust had settled, Dominic Moore, Pavel Kubina and Steve Downie were all in other cities. In return, Yzerman built a stockpile of drift picks that left the Lighting with two first-round selections among the group.
So where does Yzerman go with his pick at the number ten spot? With six of the team’s defensemen being either restricted or unrestricted free agents, there is no guarantee that all – if any – will be back. It makes sense that between that and the possibility that Ohlund may not be back because of his injury, he needs to make sure that the team has defensive help on the way. Getting a blue liner who can play at both ends of the ice would be a plus.
Several teams ahead of the Lightning will probably be looking for defensemen just like Tampa but this year’s class is fairly well stocked with them. With that in mind, expect Yzerman to step to the podium on draft day and announce:
“With the tenth pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning select, from the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League, Cody Ceci.”
To learn more about Cody Ceci, click here.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com