As a Canes fan, what impresses me more than the firepower of the Bolts is their defense. Having just played our brutal 4 in a row stretch against these guys, I am convinced they are the best team in hockey. They can outskill anyone in the league, even without Kucherov. But what will make them a playoff threat is their ability to play a shutdown, physical game.
My younger Canes need to learn how to play these kinds of games. We get destroyed if we play a really fast and physical defensive team, a la Boston and Tampa. I feel like we also need 1 or 2 Blake Coleman types to put us over the edge, and we probably need a little more experience for our core players as well.
It's true that Vasilevskiy is incredible, and I dare anyone to say he is not the most valuable goalie in the world right now. He is. He is an amazing last line of defense. However, what matters more is Tampa's very good defense. Look at their goal differential. I think they've allowed 39 goals against last I checked. That is ridiculous. Just checked - still true. They give up less than 2 goals a game.