Speculation: 2022-2023 General Lightning Discussion - Part 2

[Lightning1995]

The Cirelli Stammer Killer lime chews up 18 million of cap WHILE they suck together. Plays die on Cirellis stick constantly. It just seems so obvious to give Cirelli a couple shut down wingers and put Paul and killer back with Paul

 

[ccman68]

these mfs have our leftovers as their second line

 

[The Gongshow]

The window is in jeopardy of being slammed shut real soon. JBB gonna have to shake things up in the offseason. He's gonna have to move a player or two and should start with Cirelli

Getting rid of McDonagh was a big mistake

 

[RussianGuyovich]

The window is in jeopardy of being slammed shut real soon. JBB gonna have to shake things up in the offseason. He's gonna have to move a player or two and should start with Cirelli

Getting rid of McDonagh was a big mistake

Ah yes. Defensive defenseman mcd is what this team needs.

 

[The Gongshow]

Ah yes. Defensive defenseman mcd is what this team needs.

Except it is....

 

[Sky04]

Except it is....

He must be watching a different team.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

He must be watching a different team.

We got shut out I sure wish we had mcd to uhhhh lemme see…turn over the puck inside our zone?

 

[kanucks25]

We got shut out I sure wish we had mcd to uhhhh lemme see…turn over the puck inside our zone?

I think in general hockey fans underrate how much a good defenseman can help drive offense even if he's not putting up the numbers himself.

Staying out of your zone / getting the puck out quickly and efficiently helps the offense succeed. Essentially your forwards are spending less time, effort and energy playing defense.

I obviously can't speak to the nuance of your team, but just looking at it on paper, 4 out of 6 D-men are either unproven or widely considered depth pieces, so I'm confused as to why JBB did not get help here.

I think Jeanot was a good pickup as well but maybe not the right one when it comes to playstyle if depth offensive skill has become an issue.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

I think in general hockey fans underrate how much a good defenseman can help drive offense even if he's not putting up the numbers himself.

Staying out of your zone / getting the puck out quickly and efficiently helps the offense succeed. Essentially your forwards are spending less time, effort and energy playing defense.

I obviously can't speak to the nuance of your team, but just looking at it on paper, 4 out of 6 D-men are either unproven or widely considered depth pieces, so I'm confused as to why JBB did not get help here.

I think Jeanot was a good pickup as well but maybe not the right one when it comes to playstyle if depth offensive skill has become an issue.

Cool. This has nothing to do with what we’re going through. Thanks for the post.

 

[DanyHeatley]

Greetings from a friendly visitor. This is fine, just a minor lull as long as you keep the 1st round leafs tradition alive. You are still one of the top dogs in the East.

 

[Stammertime91]

I think in general hockey fans underrate how much a good defenseman can help drive offense even if he's not putting up the numbers himself.

Staying out of your zone / getting the puck out quickly and efficiently helps the offense succeed. Essentially your forwards are spending less time, effort and energy playing defense.

I obviously can't speak to the nuance of your team, but just looking at it on paper, 4 out of 6 D-men are either unproven or widely considered depth pieces, so I'm confused as to why JBB did not get help here.

I think Jeanot was a good pickup as well but maybe not the right one when it comes to playstyle if depth offensive skill has become an issue.

Agreed. McDonagh had some of the most remarkable transitions in postseason hockey you'll ever see by one defenseman. I used to remember every game and the goal but I'll name a couple...

Game 1 against Florida in 2020 assisted the GWG to Point.
Game 7 against NYI in 2020 assisted the GWG to Gourde.

There was like 8 significant assists that were game changing over those b2b runs. His two way play was so underrated to evade a forechecker and move the puck to a safe area. Our defense took a monumental hit in this area.

 

[Todd1a]

these mfs have our leftovers as their second line

I think they can beat us 5-0 right now

I think in general hockey fans underrate how much a good defenseman can help drive offense even if he's not putting up the numbers himself.

Staying out of your zone / getting the puck out quickly and efficiently helps the offense succeed. Essentially your forwards are spending less time, effort and energy playing defense.

I obviously can't speak to the nuance of your team, but just looking at it on paper, 4 out of 6 D-men are either unproven or widely considered depth pieces, so I'm confused as to why JBB did not get help here.

I think Jeanot was a good pickup as well but maybe not the right one when it comes to playstyle if depth offensive skill has become an issue.

Jeannot is a good player but we definitely needed a defenseman more

The window is in jeopardy of being slammed shut real soon. JBB gonna have to shake things up in the offseason. He's gonna have to move a player or two and should start with Cirelli

Getting rid of McDonagh was a big mistake

Needed to get rid of the mcdonagh contract problem was JBB did a piss poor job replacing him with cole and scraps .

 

[RDTBay4]

Hockey twitter is pissing themselves in glee at our current struggles. It actually feels good that so many people are that steamed about our success.

At this point anything but a cup is a failure, which is a very difficult standard for the players. We get everyone's best shot, every night, for years.

After all the garbage I've been reading, man will it feel good if we make a deep run, or by the grace of God do it again.

I copy/pasted an entire list of tweets to revisit, hopefully I'll be able to use it in a few months.

 

[DFC]

We got shut out I sure wish we had mcd to uhhhh lemme see…turn over the puck inside our zone?

We also have up 6 for like the 3rd time this week.

We definitely miss McDonagh. Even if he wasnt as good last year, we got pretty used to the luxury of two #1s.

 

[Sky04]

I dunno maybe we could've used a goal from our 8.5M one dimensional dman.

 

[TheSchmidt]

Here are the top 30 UFA Defenseman for the off-season:

View attachment 662460

Not really much to choose from that we can afford. Looks like TMFVR is re-signing with WSH. I guess we could try to sign Stetcher. But not much out there.

Not sure what his value is, but after looking at that class, Colton is getting moved for a dman. Makes too much sense.

 

[JTBF81]

Not sure what his value is, but after looking at that class, Colton is getting moved for a dman. Makes too much sense.

Colton likely with an add might bring back a top 4 caliber dman. Tampa can likely sign someone from that list on a short term deal to be 3LD if they can't re-sign Cole. The other issue is that any real upgrade on defense in a Colton trade might cost reasonably more than the 3-3.5 they're looking to pay Colton. If Tampa really wants to upgrade the d-corp in the off-season, they'll probably have to move Cirelli in a hockey trade. I don't think that's a great decision, but if that's the course JBB wants to go, Tampa could likely find a team looking for an upgrade at C in exchange for a top 4 dman with term.

Colorado is one such team that comes to mind, as Tampa could ask for one of Toews(lacks the term though) or Manson as the base. Manson would have 2 extra years and be a top 4 RD, and he would save Tampa cap space to more easily re-sign Colton and Jeannot, plus sign a vet 3LD. Manson has been more injury prone while Toews is a better player(and much less likely to be traded). It's unlikely as Cirelli is a key piece moving ahead imo, but if there is one player Tampa could move in a hockey deal to get a quality top 4 D this offseason, it's probably Cirelli.

Colton could potentially bring back a #4 type, but whether Tampa could make the cap work past next season is not a guarantee. The other team would also have to have the cap space to sign Colton or take on Cirelli's contract, so that would be another factor in any negotiation. I'm sure there are other teams that could use the C upgrade and have a surplus on defense, the Avs are just one example.

 

[Peacefool]

Buffalo,Washington,Florida,Pittsburgh are chasing for wild.
We are chasing for wild card too..but there i nuance xD

If I remember correctly last 3-5 years we always sucked at february-april stretch at regular season games.

 

[These Are The Days]

It's gonna be a dump truck of LOL's if we played all this time relatively healthy only for everyone to go down hurt now

 

[ThaShow]

Buffalo,Washington,Florida,Pittsburgh are chasing for wild.
We are chasing for wild card too..but there i nuance xD

If I remember correctly last 3-5 years we always sucked at february-april stretch at regular season games.

You forgot OTT

 

[Bolt32]

The Cirelli Stammer Killer lime chews up 18 million of cap WHILE they suck together. Plays die on Cirellis stick constantly. It just seems so obvious to give Cirelli a couple shut down wingers and put Paul and killer back with Paul

I've said it for a few years now. Cirelli is over rated. We paid way to much for him. Seeing this while disappointing, doesn't surprise me. I firmly believe our deep run days are over barring some random prospect we have goes all point or Kutcherov. Which we seem to be running out of prospects as well. In a few years things are going to be rough to say the least.

 

[Fritobandito3]

McDonagh is plus 19. Hmmm.

 

[These Are The Days]

I've said it for a few years now. Cirelli is over rated. We paid way to much for him. Seeing this while disappointing, doesn't surprise me. I firmly believe our deep run days are over barring some random prospect we have goes all point or Kutcherov. Which we seem to be running out of prospects as well. In a few years things are going to be rough to say the least.

It's not that dire. I think the guys are legitimately burned out, they're trying to not get hurt and we just need to change up the formula a bit too. JFBB and Coop are the best GM/coach duo in the league and we should be optimistic until something huge like trading Vasy happens. We won the Cup twice in a year and had to fend off teams 1, 2, 4 and I think 6 in the entire league for that threepeat.

Make no mistake, it is BAD right now but it's in terms of "Are we gonna finish the dynasty or do we have a 3-5 year plan to get these guys 1 last title?"


This team deserves ALL the shit it's getting right now but we have to remember they're human and we don't want it more than them no matter what we think

 

[PJ817]

I think the guys are legitimately burned out

I've been saying this for about 2 weeks now; last night solidified it for me

 

[The Gongshow]

Take the first round L, everyone rest up and come back actually willing to play hockey next season. Hedman looks washed as hell. The team looks slow and sluggish, and while most of them are old, we still have young bodies on the team playing like garbage.

JBB can fix the team the best he can during the off season. I think that starts with a Cirelli trade. He'd have some decent cap from that and Killorn leaving.

Stamkos and Paul the 2nd line. Kuch and Point with Hagel on the first line.

Hopefully Hedman can be rested and an actual 1D again.