Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2022 12:48:06 GMT -6
The state of Florida's favourite received a jolt of electricity over the past month, and things could not be going much better. After pulling off an early season blockbuster to land Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Atlantic Division's only good American team continued to make moves. GM Brad Palmer landed Jamie Benn, James van Riemsdyk, and Charlie Coyle to bolster the forward group, while also replacing Connor Murphy with Brenden Dillon in a more prudent trade to increase long term cap flexibility.
The moves have certainly paid off, as the white hot Lightning have won nine (9) [NINE!] straight games.
With rumours swirling that the Lightning were recently close to landing Drew Doughty, reporters will be on storm watch to see what the league best-looking Ontario-based GM will do. The forward still leaves a lot to be desired, although they are clicking and cooking up a storm with balanced offense. That they've been able to go on this run without Vasilevskiy stealing games says a lot about the potential that this team has. The forecast looks like a lot of rainy deals for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
One thing to watch as we move forward is the ice time allotment on the back end. Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Karlsson lead the league in minutes played which could be risky at their age. We could see them removed from the top powerplay unit to preserve them for the playoffs if the two-time defending champions create a bigger cushion in the standings.
No matter what lies ahead at the end of the rainbow, the team has gone from a 1-11 preseason to possible Cup favourites, at least according to those around the league with a brain.
The moves have certainly paid off, as the white hot Lightning have won nine (9) [NINE!] straight games.
With rumours swirling that the Lightning were recently close to landing Drew Doughty, reporters will be on storm watch to see what the league best-looking Ontario-based GM will do. The forward still leaves a lot to be desired, although they are clicking and cooking up a storm with balanced offense. That they've been able to go on this run without Vasilevskiy stealing games says a lot about the potential that this team has. The forecast looks like a lot of rainy deals for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
One thing to watch as we move forward is the ice time allotment on the back end. Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Karlsson lead the league in minutes played which could be risky at their age. We could see them removed from the top powerplay unit to preserve them for the playoffs if the two-time defending champions create a bigger cushion in the standings.
No matter what lies ahead at the end of the rainbow, the team has gone from a 1-11 preseason to possible Cup favourites, at least according to those around the league with a brain.
