2014-15 Tampa Bay Lightning Preview

(SportsNetwork.com) - When Steven Stamkos suffered a broken leg in November of last season most people believed Tampa Bay's playoff chances went down with him.

The Lightning, however, showed they were more than just a one-man team by holding down the fort for nearly four months before their superstar centerman was able to return. When Stamkos came back in early March the club was hanging onto a wild card spot. By the time the regular season ended, the club had jumped into second place in the Atlantic Division and claimed its first playoff appearance since 2011.

Even though the postseason run ended shortly after it began with a four-game sweep at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, there were plenty of positives to draw at the end of 2013-14.

If anything, general manager Steve Yzerman, who is entering his fifth season leading the Bolts, has to hope his club and head coach Jon Cooper learned some valuable lessons in resiliency. Stamkos provided the team with one test in dealing with adversity, but there was also the Martin St. Louis saga, which ended with Yzerman granting the team captain's demand for a trade by shipping him to New York for former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan.

The Callahan trade worked out well enough Yzerman decided to re-sign the forward to a six-year, $34.8 million contract rather than let him hit free agency. In addition to retaining Callahan's services, the Lightning also brought in a handful of free agents over the summer, including fellow ex- Rangers Anton Stralman and Brian Boyle.

Yzerman also lured forward Brenden Morrow and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to Tampa. The latter player provides depth in case No. 1 netminder Ben Bishop goes down again to injury like he did right before the start of last spring's playoffs.

FORWARDS - Stamkos is quite possibly the most dangerous offensive weapon in the NHL, so it's no small feat Tampa Bay was able to stay afloat in the playoff race despite being without such an enormous talent for over half the season.

At the time he suffered a fractured right tibia against Boston on Nov. 11, the 24-year-old Stamkos was tied for the NHL lead in goals (14) and points (23). He wound up posting 25 goals and 40 points over 37 games in 2013-14 and also added two goals and two assists in Tampa's four playoff games against the Canadiens.

When healthy, Stamkos, who has averaged .57 goals per game over six seasons in the NHL, is a threat to score 50 goals or more every season. Having missed only three games in his career prior to breaking his leg, the Lightning hope last season's injury was just a bit of bad luck and not the sign of things to come.

One of the reasons Tampa was able to perform so well without Stamkos was the play of rookie forwards Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson, who wound up being two of the three finalists for the Calder Trophy. Palat notched 23 goals and 36 assists in 81 games and he looks like a perfect left wing fit for Stamkos. Johnson, a natural centerman, had 24 goals and 50 points last season while playing mostly on the wing due to Tampa's depth down the middle.

Although Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon beat out Johnson and Palat for the NHL's rookie award, the Bolts may have the Calder favorite in 2014-15 with Jonathan Drouin. The 19-year-old left wing was the third overall pick in 2013, the same year MacKinnon, who played on the same line with Drouin in junior hockey, was taken with the No. 1 selection. Drouin excels at creating opportunities for his teammates and is coming off a 2013-14 season in which he recorded 79 assists and 108 points for the Halifax Mooseheads.

Although a broken thumb could cause him to miss the start of the season, it seems Drouin eventually will get a chance to compete for minutes on the second line where he could play with Callahan and centerman Valtteri Filppula, who had a solid first season with Tampa in 2013-14. Filppula, a former Detroit Red Wing, posted a career-best 25 goals and added 33 assists after signing with the Lightning for five years and $25 million last summer.

The versatile Callahan could play right wing on the Stamkos line, but he's also well-suited to play a more defensive role on the second or third lines. Callahan posted six goals and five assists in 20 regular-season games with Tampa last season, but failed to register a point in the playoffs.

Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn expect to join Boyle -- Callahan's former Rangers teammate -- on the club's third line along, while Morrow seems like a better fit for the fourth line at this stage of his career.

At 6-foot-7, 244 pounds Boyle provides Tampa with a much needed size boost. He posted six goals and 12 assists in 82 games with New York in 2013-14 before coming alive offensively in the playoffs with eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in 25 games for the Eastern Conference champion Rangers.

The 35-year-old Morrow, who scored 20 or more goals seven times during his 12- plus seasons with Dallas, is no longer a major offensive threat but he did manage to record 13 goals and 12 assists with St. Louis last season. Even at this stage of his career, however, Morrow is comfortable taking on an energy- line role.

DEFENSE - Even with Johnson and Palat garnering Calder finalist spots, the best sign for Tampa's future had to be the play of Victor Hedman, who turned a corner for the Lightning in 2013-14.

Hedman, the second overall pick of the 2009 draft behind John Tavares of the New York Islanders, is only 23 years old but is already a veteran of 333 NHL games. The 6-foot-6 Swede had drawn comparisons to Zdeno Chara for his combination of size, skill and physicality and it was easy to see why in 2013-14, when Hedman recorded 13 goals and ranked fourth among NHL blueliners with 55 points. It was a huge spike in production considering Hedman managed to post only 89 points (16G, 73A) over his first 258 NHL contests.

Although Hedman's career trajectory is skyrocketing, the Lightning have depth issues on the back end. Yzerman, however, hopes to have alleviated the problem by trading for Jason Garrison and signing Stralman to a five-year. $22.5 million deal. Tampa is betting the duo can help form a much improved second pairing behind Hedman and Matt Carle.

Carle recorded two goals and 29 assists with Tampa last season and obviously has proven to be a good fit for Hedman. Still, the Swedish Stralman could pair with his countryman Hedman, and a move that would push Carle to the second pairing.

Stralman, another ex-Ranger, is a favorite of the advanced statistics crowd and is coming off a season in which he posted 13 points (1G, 12A) in 81 games. He also played a key role for New York during its run to the Stanley Cup Finals and made himself a huge chunk of change in the process, driving up the price on the open market. It will be interesting to see if Stralman can produce under the pressure of his lucrative free agent deal.

Garrison is a solid two-way defenseman who posted seven goals and 26 assists in 81 games with Vancouver in 2013-14.

The additions of Garrison and Stralman likely means Radko Gudas and Eric Brewer will see less ice time which can only be a good thing for the Lightning.

GOALTENDING - It'd be easy to pin Tampa's sweep at the hands of Montreal directly on Bishop's injury but the Bolts were thoroughly outplayed by the speedy Canadiens in all aspects. Perhaps, the 2013-14 Vezina Trophy finalist could have stolen a game or two from the Habs but it's doubtful his presence would've changed the outcome of the entire series.

Bishop was acquired by Yzerman to little fanfare at the 2013 trade deadline, but the move looks like a major steal now. The 27-year-old went 37-14-7 with a .924 save percentage and 2.23 goals against average in 63 games last season to become the club's clear No. 1 goaltender.

Although a wrist injury required Bishop to undergo surgery in April, it was an unrelated dislocated elbow that caused him to miss the playoffs. As of early September, Bishop was not full recovered from the wrist procedure but all indicators point to him being ready for the start of the season.

After last season's backup options of Anders Lindback and Kristers Gudlevskis let the Bolts down in the playoffs, veteran netminder Nabokov was signed in case the injury bug bites Bishop again. Nabokov, 39, saw action in 40 games for the Islanders last season and went 15-14-8 with a 2.74 GAA and .905 save percentage.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - The Lightning enter 2014-15 as a team expected to make the playoffs and that's a good sign Yzerman's plan for the club is working. It wouldn't even be crazy to expect Tampa to challenge Boston for the Atlantic Division title this spring. Stamkos, Hedman and Bishop each have the opportunity to be among the best players of their generation at their respective positions and with guys like Johnson, Palat and Drouin joining the talent pool we could see Tampa become an elite team in the East over the next few seasons. First order of business, however, is to get back to the playoffs and to do better than a first-round exit. With another year under the belts, there's a good chance this team can do that and more.