TAMPA, FLA – The 2016-17 NHL season was once again a good news, bad news one for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The good news unfortunately came late in the season when it was announced that the Lightning would play host to the 2018 All-Star weekend – the first such event during an Olympic season in a while as the NHL has chosen not to participate.
By the time that news came out, the Lightning had long been hitting golf balls as the Sunshine State’s first NHL team did not make the playoffs. The margin was slim missing out by just one point that separated the Lightning from the second wild card spot in the 
Eastern conference.
Tampa’s 42-30-10 record was remarkable given what the Lightning went through during the season. Injuries played a key role in disrupting what GM Steve Yzerman and Head Coach Jon Cooper thought would be the franchise’s fourth consecutive trip to the post-season.
Arguably the biggest missing piece to the puzzle was All-Star forward and team captain Steven Stamkos who played just 17 games before suffering yet another season-ending injury. Prior to leaving the lineup, Stamkos put up nine goals and eleven assists for 20 points – a pace that would have put him near or at the top of just about every league scoring category. In all, no member of the Lightning roster played in all 82 games.
Those left behind to pick up the slack did an admirable job. Nikita Kucherov led the Bolts with 40 goals and 85 points. Defenseman Victor Hedman posted 72 points including a team-high 56 assists. Even young forward Jonathan Drouin, who a year ago seemed destined to be moved somewhere else, chipped in with 21 goals and 53 points.
Even the goaltending, which seemed to be up in the air with the impending expansion draft coming, stabilized after the Lightning traded Ben Bishop to Los Angeles in return for Peter Budaj, an unrestricted free agent with a reasonable price tag, went 3-1 down the stretch as a backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy who took over for Bishop and posted a solid 23-17-0-7 mark with a 2.61 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
The other x-factor for Tampa is the salary cap. Ondrej Palat (17-35-52), Tyler Johnson (19-26-45) and Drouin, who are all at the end of their current contracts, as is defenseman Andrej Sustr (3-11-14). The four-pack are all restricted free agents. Palat and Johnson will be looking at big pay increases with Drouin not far behind. Keeping all three (or four with Sustr being a little less expensive) will eat up a lot of the $17 million in extra cap space so Yzerman may have to make some choices.
Of course, with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate in Syracuse playing in the Calder Cup finals against Grand Rapids, Tampa may have plenty of help waiting in the wings. Many of the members of the Crunch squad have seen time in NHL games so quite a few are very close to being ready.
Yzerman could also go out and take a dip in the free agent market. If he re-signs Budaj as a number two netminder, that position should be set.
The Lightning seem set offensively but could use some more help on defense. With the top prospects on the blueline already off the board on PHN’s Mock Draft, Yzerman can afford to add some more scoring to the system that will still be a year or two away if he can find a decently cheap free agent rental.
With that in mind, expect Yzerman to step to the podium in Chicago and make the following announcement:
“With the 14th pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning – proud hosts of the 2018 All-Star Weekend – select from the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL and Nummela, Finland, forward Eeli Tolvanen.”
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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