2018-2019 General Lightning Discussion - Part 2

[CupsOverCash]

Well it’s time to vent. I still think the Lightning win the series. But if they don’t, what does JBB do?

You simply can’t keep this core together if Columbus takes them out. There are lots of NTC on the team, so what cam be done?

Win or die. The core dies if Columbus kills it. New blood will be needed with drastic changes.

Hopefully I look back on this post and laugh after the Lightning winnthe cup.

Cross that road if we have to.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Well it’s time to vent. I still think the Lightning win the series. But if they don’t, what does JBB do?

You simply can’t keep this core together if Columbus takes them out. There are lots of NTC on the team, so what cam be done?

Win or die. The core dies if Columbus kills it. New blood will be needed with drastic changes.

Hopefully I look back on this post and laugh after the Lightning winnthe cup.

The only thing you can try to hold your hat on is to look at the '96 Red Wings - yes, that same Red Wings team - and look at what their résumé was after they were eliminated. It looks something like this:

1993 - eliminated in 1st round in an "upset"
1994 - eliminated as the #1 seed by a third-year expansion team in the 1st round
1995 - swept in the Final in shocking fashion by a #5 seed
1996 - single-season wins record, lose in six in the WCF and losing two of three games at home

The Lightning have accomplished, or would have in this case, basically the same things since 2015, just in a different order. Then, in 1997, the Red Wings won 24 fewer games, finished with 37 fewer points, and yet that's the team that went on to win the Cup. First in 42 years. Then, for good measure, they did it again in 1998.

The '96 Red Wings aren't viewed as a playoff failure because their next two versions got the job done. They did make a trade early in the '96-'97 season if I'm not mistaken- it was Shanahan/Primeau, wasn't it? Feel like Paul Coffey was in there was well somewhere - but their successes in the next two seasons have made what happened in 1996 palatable for them. For g-d's sake, the Yzerman goal against St. Louis in OT of Game 7 - a #4 seed with a losing record with a backup goalie that should've never gone 7 to begin with - is still looked at as a landmark moment in Detroit sports and I can't help but think that, without the successes of '97 and '98, it would just be viewed in the lens of "we wasted it".

But I'm getting off the topic here. Basically, the chance of this core getting all the way isn't dead for good if they fail this year...necessarily. But seeing as how none of us are clairvoyant (...I think), it sure would seem impossible to believe that this group of guys would be able to get off the matt and recover in 2020 and beyond if they spit the bit this year.

 

[BoltzManConstant]

Well it’s time to vent. I still think the Lightning win the series. But if they don’t, what does JBB do?

You simply can’t keep this core together if Columbus takes them out. There are lots of NTC on the team, so what cam be done?

Win or die. The core dies if Columbus kills it. New blood will be needed with drastic changes.

Hopefully I look back on this post and laugh after the Lightning winnthe cup.

Go ahead with your venting, but a series loss to Columbus would change nothing of consequence.

You build the best team you can. Tampa has built the best team in the league. JBB will do everything he can to preserve that, while upgrading if possible. You try to keep your window open as long as you can, until it all catches up with you.

We have some cap hurdles to deal with, but we can keep the window open another 2 or 3 years with little difficulty, even as some guys age and we have to sacrifice some pieces that may drop us from the top of the league. But we'll still be within shooting distance of a Cup winner. Just like Washington was.