This season for the Tampa Bay Lightning was defined by two key acquisitions. While one of them occurred the previous season in February of 2023, it was always with an eye towards making a run in the 2023-24 season.
The first acquisition...Looking back to the 2022-23 season, star forward Jonathan Huberdeau was struggling in the NHL. Despite the teams success the last few seasons, the cap was a yearly challenge that caused major roster adjustments, and retaining Huberdeau at his new NHL salary wasn't going to be an option. It took two trades, but it became very clear that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a huge target. Both because he was poised to rate extremely well in 2023-24 and because his contract would represent a major value for the Lightning's cap issues. The cost to acquire him wasn't cheap but it was a move that had to be made.
The second acquisition...This one was less planned out and kind of just happened. After trading Ivan Provorov earlier in the offseason there was a bit of a hole on D. Not a major one, but clearly the team was going to be thinner on D than they had been in years past. As the season approached the Anaheim Ducks began shopping Brent Burns and a deal came together fairly quickly. In Burns the team acquired two things coveted by GM Jeff Kirk; a legit 1D and a veteran presence.
Those two key acquisitions helped lead the team to a very strong 53-20-9 record (despite a few dropped games down the stretch) that was good for 115 points and a 2nd place finish in the tough Atlantic division behind the 2023 Cup champion Florida Panthers.
The playoff path was a daunting one, having to get through teams with the 2nd (Panthers 117 points), 4th (Canadiens 112 points) and 6th (Penguins 108 points) best records during the season. Two of the series were 7 game nailbiters, one was a surprisingly short 5 game series where every game was decided by 1 goal, before making it to the final. In the end, the stars aligned and the Lightning won their 3rd Stanley Cup in the last 5 seasons (2020, 2022, 2024) after sweeping the upstart Arizona Coyotes 4-0.
Some random fun facts about the cup winning teams...
The first acquisition...Looking back to the 2022-23 season, star forward Jonathan Huberdeau was struggling in the NHL. Despite the teams success the last few seasons, the cap was a yearly challenge that caused major roster adjustments, and retaining Huberdeau at his new NHL salary wasn't going to be an option. It took two trades, but it became very clear that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a huge target. Both because he was poised to rate extremely well in 2023-24 and because his contract would represent a major value for the Lightning's cap issues. The cost to acquire him wasn't cheap but it was a move that had to be made.
The second acquisition...This one was less planned out and kind of just happened. After trading Ivan Provorov earlier in the offseason there was a bit of a hole on D. Not a major one, but clearly the team was going to be thinner on D than they had been in years past. As the season approached the Anaheim Ducks began shopping Brent Burns and a deal came together fairly quickly. In Burns the team acquired two things coveted by GM Jeff Kirk; a legit 1D and a veteran presence.
Those two key acquisitions helped lead the team to a very strong 53-20-9 record (despite a few dropped games down the stretch) that was good for 115 points and a 2nd place finish in the tough Atlantic division behind the 2023 Cup champion Florida Panthers.
The playoff path was a daunting one, having to get through teams with the 2nd (Panthers 117 points), 4th (Canadiens 112 points) and 6th (Penguins 108 points) best records during the season. Two of the series were 7 game nailbiters, one was a surprisingly short 5 game series where every game was decided by 1 goal, before making it to the final. In the end, the stars aligned and the Lightning won their 3rd Stanley Cup in the last 5 seasons (2020, 2022, 2024) after sweeping the upstart Arizona Coyotes 4-0.
Some random fun facts about the cup winning teams...
- Only 3 skaters from the 2020 team remain on the 2024 team: Vasilevskiy, Eichel, Jarnkrok
- Only 8 skaters from the 2022 team remain on the 2024 team: Vasilevskiy, Eichel, Jarnkrok, Pinto, Konecny, Lindell, Gavrikov, Hakanpaa...plus Glass & Dorofeyev were farm players at the time that held active roster spots this year
- Andrei Vasilevskiy is a combined 12-3 in Stanley Cup final games, giving up only 28 total goals
