Speculation: 2020-2021 General Lightning Discussion - Defending Champions Edition

[BowDownToVasilevskiy]

Stamkos and Palat could switch too, they haven't been able to run that stacked top line in over a year.

I want to see Stamkos - Point - Kucherov again tbh

 

[These Are The Days]

It just occurred to me that the TNT partnership can only be good for the salary cap. I'm gonna be roaring in LOL's if the cap goes up anyway and we get to keep our guys. Try to imagine the salt for a minute

 

[Felonious Python]

It just occurred to me that the TNT partnership can only be good for the salary cap. I'm gonna be roaring in LOL's if the cap goes up anyway and we get to keep our guys. Try to imagine the salt for a minute

There will be an extra layer of irony if ESPN and/or Turner dislike TB as much as NBC does.

Turner is in Atlanta though, so I think we might get a fair analysis.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Charles Barkley is a big hockey fan who also is friends with Jon Cooper. Obviously he's not a hockey commentator but I'd love to see him pop in on a semi-regular basis on whatever programming Turner might have.

 

[BoltsFanSinceDay1]

It just occurred to me that the TNT partnership can only be good for the salary cap. I'm gonna be roaring in LOL's if the cap goes up anyway and we get to keep our guys. Try to imagine the salt for a minute

 

[These Are The Days]

But wait..... it gets better. What if we went back-to-back first? It's not impossible. I swear, short of trading for a 1st rounder that wins the lottery for Connor Bedard I can't imagine a Tampa Bay Lightning scenario that pisses the hockey world off more than us winning it all and then getting out of cap hell. I mean it's fun to pretend and all though

 

[BoltsFanSinceDay1]

But wait..... it gets better. What if we went back-to-back first? It's not impossible. I swear, short of trading for a 1st rounder that wins the lottery for Connor Bedard I can't imagine a Tampa Bay Lightning scenario that pisses the hockey world off more than us winning it all and then getting out of cap hell. I mean it's fun to pretend and all though

That would be so amazing. Just think how great that would be!

 

[HoseEmDown]

Tampa being to TNT what the Flyers were to NBCSN or even other Northeast teams I just don't see it. Not because I don't think TNT wouldn't want that it's just TNT has basketball on Tuesday and Thursday. Our schedule prior to Covid was very Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night games. We played on the other 4 nights but not nearly as much as those 3. So 2 of our main game nights we wouldn't have on TV. We could have the Saturday night game if they did one. Wrestling is on Wednesday and it draws fairly decent so not sure they move that, maybe they do a west coast game after it? Monday is possible but in the early season football is still on so the ratings won't be great. Friday night I don't think is great for ratings and I don't know about weekends. It's great to get the extra money for the TV rights just not sure we are going to get on TV more.

 

[Point21]

I really cant wait for playoffs with fans. I wanna hear the roar of the crowd when Cernak or Schenn lights someone up in open ice

 

[Felonious Python]

We have the answer to, or the reason of, the recent Bally Sports technical issues.

 

[BoltsFanSinceDay1]

Hey Coop!---read this thread The smartest thing you've ever seen an NHL coach do

 

[Point21]

Good for Foote to go back to Syracuse and get the ice time he needs, even if its only for a handful of games left. Since the AHL isnt having a playoffs he will be right back up when the season is over so no harm no foul to get him so extra playing time instead of getting snacks for JBB

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

So it's understandable enough to be paying attention to the race for potential seeding in our division, which of course I understand why that would be, but I want to take a minute to look at the rest of the league as well. Obviously this is only relevant if we get past the division rounds, but here's where the other top contenders currently sit in terms of point totals ("top contender" as I see it, anyway):

Teams (likely) to finish above us: Colorado and Las Vegas -- COL is three points behind, but with three games in hand and a very soft remaining schedule
Teams that (likely) will finish beneath us: Washington, NY Islanders, Boston (all East) and Minnesota (P) and Edmonton (N) depending on how you rate them
Too close to call: Toronto (2 points behind with game in hand) and Pittsburgh (2 points behind with same number of games played)

Why does this matter? The two best teams in the league, outside our division anyway, are very likely the Avs and Golden Knights. Now, obviously only one of them can came out of the division, but (and this especially pertains to the Avs) those are probably the only teams out there who I don't feel great matching up against. Not to say we can't beat them, but it'll be very tough. The Avs would be favored against us for sure, I would imagine. And so one thing that is important is that, if we do get through our division in the playoffs, we should hope the Lightning are no worse than the #3 seeded team in the semifinal round. Either Colorado or Las Vegas is likely to be the #1 seed. You'd rather hope to wait as long as possible to not face them, because the longer it takes, the better the chance is they will be eliminated before you get to them (or the better chance we're already eliminated, in which case who cares).

This isn't to say we should be afraid of a challenge, but lets also not overlook last year's playoff road. The Bruins were legitimately excellent. Best team in the league pre-COVID. Our other opponents? In terms of regulation wins, losses, and games that ended in overtime/SO, these were their records: Columbus (25-22-23), NY Islanders (24-23-21), and Dallas (26-24-19). None of those were imposing teams. We avoided a team that always gives us fits in the Capitals (who had the third best record in the East overall) as well as those two Western teams when they got knocked out by Dallas instead. Do we care? Not really. A Cup is a Cup and we have no control over other series' and their outcomes. And if we can get through our division and avoid Colorado and Las Vegas again, I will like our chances over anybody we face once again as well.

Obviously, lets hope to be there when the third round starts and go from there.

 

[Sky04]

We don't need to create an underdog story no one's going to believe, Tampa is the favorite in every matchup they enter this year regardless of their seed.

Do I want the path of least resistance? Of course but it doesn't really matter too much since every team will be gunning to take out the current champs early. Tampa's biggest hurdle will be getting out of the division.

 

[CupsOverCash]

It will be harder this time no matter who we play imo. Teams are gunning for the champs every year and unless our guys come back healthy and ready to play it's gonna be a very tough road. Pittsburgh is a team that I thought had an easier road the second time they won it but that is super rare. I think the league is far more competitive now than it was then. Unless we get the absolute best out of our top guys I don't see it being easy to repeat at all. We have played better lately on d and still need to improve on offense. If our offense goes dry again we won't go far. Far more teams in the league that can score goals up and down their lineup.

 

[The Gongshow]

It will be harder this time no matter who we play imo. Teams are gunning for the champs every year and unless our guys come back healthy and ready to play it's gonna be a very tough road. Pittsburgh is a team that I thought had an easier road the second time they won it but that is super rare. I think the league is far more competitive now than it was then. Unless we get the absolute best out of our top guys I don't see it being easy to repeat at all. We have played better lately on d and still need to improve on offense. If our offense goes dry again we won't go far. Far more teams in the league that can score goals up and down their lineup.

Our division is arguably the toughest as well, specially top heavy.

Seeding might be a bit favourable outside of the division though, winner shouldn't have to face the winner of Vegas/Colorado.

Imagine Facing Tampa/Florida/Carolina for two rounds then having to face Vegas/Colorado

Hoping Toronto faces Vegas/Colorado tbh.

 

[The Gongshow]

Chicago and Dallas doing us no favors tonight

 

[These Are The Days]

Our division is arguably the toughest as well, specially top heavy.

Seeding might be a bit favourable outside of the division though, winner shouldn't have to face the winner of Vegas/Colorado.

Imagine Facing Tampa/Florida/Carolina for two rounds then having to face Vegas/Colorado

Hoping Toronto faces Vegas/Colorado tbh.

Well when you consider the Cats, Canes and VGK are the only teams ahead of us right now, I'd say we are in really good shape. We gotta go through both of them or Stars/Preds no matter what. At this point, I would just rather us not get more injured than we already are. It's one of those "There's only 4 games left, what could possibly go wrong?" things for me now. Playing a desperate Stars team and a Panther team we may very well end up facing is going to be the best kind of test but also a rather dangerous one in its own right.

PS- it is so f***ing stupid we have to go through "Da DiViSiOn" again. It's utterly ridiculous that if the season ended today #2 in the whole league would be going at it with #4 in the 1st round. How hard would it be to split the conferences into 5-5-6 teams apiece and go back to the 1-8 format? They won't though. They gotta do everything stupid right down to the division names and a draft lottery like it's the NBA.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[Sky04]

Well when you consider the Cats, Canes and VGK are the only teams ahead of us right now, I'd say we are in really good shape. We gotta go through both of them or Stars/Preds no matter what. At this point, I would just rather us not get more injured than we already are. It's one of those "There's only 4 games left, what could possibly go wrong?" things for me now. Playing a desperate Stars team and a Panther team we may very well end up facing is going to be the best kind of test but also a rather dangerous one in its own right.

PS- it is so f***ing stupid we have to go through "Da DiViSiOn" again. It's utterly ridiculous that if the season ended today #2 in the whole league would be going at it with #4 in the 1st round. How hard would it be to split the conferences into 5-5-6 teams apiece and go back to the 1-8 format? They won't though. They gotta do everything stupid right down to the division names and a draft lottery like it's the NBA.

What are you taking about? The division format is to limit as much cross-exposure as you can, which is why we have a season at all. League wide standings don't really mean much.

 

[These Are The Days]

What are you taking about? The the division format is to limit as much cross-exposure as you can, which is why we have a season at all. League wide standings don't really much.

Well yeah, that or another bubble. In the end, it sucks to think divisional playoff format and all the drawbacks that come with it has been the status quo for years now regardless of it having been set up as a safety measure and that the NHL is liable to just keep rolling with it when things open up again.

 

[BowDownToVasilevskiy]

 

[Byrddog]

What are you taking about? The division format is to limit as much cross-exposure as you can, which is why we have a season at all. League wide standings don't really mean much.

You are right league wide standings this season are pretty meaningless. Each division has patsies that the top teams have feasted on for 8 games each. The better teams are just down right guessing now about the abilities of the other teams. The central has three teams and 5 wanna bes. Yes including Dallas who should have been a player but injury and piss poor goaltending has limited them. It is pretty poor when you consider the 4th seed in the central is likely to have a - goal differential. And is all the more the reason that we need to win the division it is looking dim with the cake schedule Carolina has remaining. A Panthers Bolts series is going to be carnage.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[DistantThunderRep]