NHL Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning

Sorry for the delay, folks. I've been working against some technical difficulties involving my internet access here at Casa de Biff, but it looks like I'm back up and running, which means it's time for part fourteen of our NHL previews, the Tampa Bay Lightning.


Last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning fell just short in their epic quest to become the first defending Stanley Cup Champions to miss the playoffs entirely since the 1995-96 New Jersey Devils. (Ironically, the Devils actually missed out on the final spot to Tampa Bay, which means the Thrashers and Maple Leafs didn't just miss out on the eight seed last year, they missed out on the 2016 Stanley Cup.) Their other epic quest, the one where they tried to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions ended less than two weeks later when they were ousted by Ottawa in the first round.

During the offseason the 'Ning, as they are affectionately called, didn't make many waves. Former Columbus Blue Jackets starter Marc Denis is a bit of an upgrade over John Grahame. The Lightning picked up Denis in exchange for winger Fredrik Modin, a thirty-goal scored whose production they failed to replace. As a result, expect a decrease in goals for to offset the potential decrease in goals against, resulting in another finish towards the lower end of the conference.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: I am aware that this preview is short and uninformative, and I apologize. Fact is, the Lightning are one of the most unremarkable franchises in the NHL. As evidenced by the fact that I couldn't find a single Lightning blog that had been updated in the past four months.)