Will the Tampa Bay Lightning Miss the Playoffs This Year?
Are the Tampa Bay Lightning set for a setback season? We’re going to discuss that here in today’s video. Welcome to the channel. It’s goal line hockey. It’s Kevin Forte. Today we are going to discuss the Tampa Bay Lightning. So, I actually just made a a little vacation. If I look a little bit more tan than usual, I made a trip down to Tampa Bay. Enjoyed a nice vacation down there. And it had me thinking, where are the Tampa Bay Lightning at right now? I think the Tampa Bay Lightning are a team that, you know, I think with all the good things that are going on with this team over the past really decade, is this team set for a true setback and maybe even missing the postseason? And we’re going to discuss that today because I think it’s not even necessarily the fact that the h that the Lightning are bad or like any worse than you know obviously there are some of those teams that won Stanley Cups now but like I think the difference between the last maybe two years and this year is like are they going to be a casualty of like the tides around them like the teams around them in that division just getting better. Now, it’s laughable to think that Buffalo would make a playoff spot over this team and maybe even the Ottawa Senators, but is it or the Red Wings or the Habs? Would any of those three ladder teams really surprise you if they made the playoffs over the Tampa Bay Lightning? Now, I think for the most part, it would be kind it is kind of laughable, especially right now in the summer, to put those teams ahead of the Lightning come next season making the playoffs. But there’s a lot of different things that can happen between now and the end of an 82 game schedule where we don’t know what any of those teams truly looks like right now. And I think for the Tampa Bay Lightning, they still have a lot of players that are from those teams. I mean, you look at the top line, you have Braden Point and Nikita Cucharov, right? You added Jake Gensel. He’s been a great addition to that team since he came in. Brandon Hegel, Nick Paul, and then you have Gage Gonkhouse. I I cannot pronounce his name. I apologize for that. If you guys could let me know down below how do you pronounce his name is Goncows. I I think that’s how you say it. I don’t know how to say it. Um so that’s your second line. Connor Geeki Nick Paul Oliver Bjorkstrand on the third line. This is according to Daily Faceoff. Apparently Nick Paul can play on the second and third line. Um the fourth line you have Pontis Holberg, Yanni Gourd and Mitchell Chaffy. So that’s your forward group. So now, does it maybe make a little more sense? Like, oh, like maybe Montreal could maybe Montreal gets a playoff spot over them. Like, is that realistic? It could happen, you know? And then you look at the defense, which I don’t know really. This is a completely different defense. It’s Victor Hedman and JJ Moser. Then you’ve got Ryan Mcdana and Eric Chernack. And then you’ve got Emil Lyla and Darren Radish. So, a completely different group there. And I think for the mo for the Tampa Lightning like like I like to think of this team in the sense that we we know what they’ve been. We know what that logo represents. Championships, success, really good seasons, but like is that something that’s maybe blurring us going into this season that like they realistically might not make the playoffs? Now they also have Andre Vasilovski who is an incredible goalender. They have Yonis Johansson who is behind him. You need Vaselvki to play most of those games. No discredit to Yonas Johansson. The reality is Vaselki is a much better goalender, right? So you’ve got that. So when I look at at the Lightning, like are they one bad injury away from just really falling off this year? And like it doesn’t even have to be like a Gensel or a Point or a Cucharov up front. I mean I mean look at Nick Paul. Like you lose a Nick Paul or a Brandon Hegel or a Yanni Gordon. You lose one of those three in the lineup somewhere. That might be the tipping point for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Like oh like yeah we we’ve got some issues here. So, with that being the case, it kind of makes you wonder where does this team fit in the division? And I think you, you know, I think Toronto’s going to be very good. Boston might regress. And I think if we were making a Bruins video right now, we would probably be having a similar conversation to what we’re saying about the Tampa Bay Lightning. Because for as much as I want the Tampa Bay Lightning to succeed and I want them to do well, like I I do have questions here and I kind of was looking at the roster while I was away. I actually passed Analay Arena. It is beautiful down there. I want to go back down there maybe even this fall to watch some Lightning games because it is beautiful down there and people want to go down there. Guys want to play there, right? That’s always been a thing. That’s how they got Jake Gensel there. Like guys want to play in Tampa. It’s not a hard sell. And um and it was kind of interesting because I just think with this current makeup of this team, the salary cap is just kind of just eating them alive for the most part. So, they’ve used up not even all of their salary cap space, but I think they’re just trying to figure out what necessary moves are they going to make going into this season. I mean, they definitely have room to make moves, but then again, it’s like, what are you trading, right? If you’re going to trade something, they they don’t have draft picks. The next two years, they do not have their own first round pick. They don’t have a fourth round pick this year. They don’t have a fifth round pick next year. Like, their their picks are very slim. And if you want to add a like a player that a wants to be there, b like current cap space $1 million. Does he fit under a million dollars? And what are you trading back? Right? Like are you trading a Connor Geeki? Like what are we doing here? We’re we’re we’re going backwards, right? This is a guy in Connor Geeki they want to keep around. That was a big part of that that trade with, you know, Sergeef. They wanted to get someone like Connor Geeki back to add to that lineup. Add a younger young center coming in, right? He’s 23 years right now old. That’s perfect. That’s exactly what Tampa Bay is looking for on a cheap salary. He probably could develop into a top six forward, but he’s making entry-level money. Like those are the type of guys that Tampa, if they want to continue to have those cup runs, those are the type of guys that are going to need to step up and get them back to the postseason and hopefully on a deep playoff run. And that’s why I will never doubt the Tampa Bay Lightning because until they prove me wrong, until they prove that they cannot make the playoffs anymore and until some of these other teams below them can truly rise above the Tampa Bay Lightning, it’s one thing to be at the same level as the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s another thing to actually advance past those teams, you know, those teams to advance past the Boston Ruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and actually be better than them. And I I just don’t know if I could say that today. And I think there’s definitely the argument to be made for it more so than in years past. But I still think Tampa Bay is better. And unless something crazy like I said happens like maybe there is a bad injury like they they lose one of those guys for a couple months then we start to have that conversation or they lose Vassie like to an injury like then we start having that conversation but other than that like on paper today the Tampa Bay Lightning should be back in the playoffs next spring. So we’ll see what that means. Does that mean they get in? Maybe, maybe not. But I think they’re good enough to make the playoffs next year 2026. So, that’s going to do it for today. Thank you so much for watching. If you like this video, want to see more videos like it, make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. And I’ll let you know right now, I came back from that trip to Tampa. I’m ready to move down there. It is beautiful down there. Um, St. Petersburg, Clear Water Beach, spent a couple days there, went on a cruise. State of Florida is beautiful. And coming from New York, o, it’s definitely tempting. It’s definitely tempting to move down there. But that’s going to do it for today. and I’ll see you again next time. Peace out, guys.
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