Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook July 1, 2023 TAMPA -  Working on a shoestring budget while attempting to retool a roster with championship aspirations, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois hunted value contracts as free agency opened up on Saturday. With very little available salary cap space, the Lightning found a way to add three forwards that will fill out the middle and bottom six forward group and added a backup goaltender to serve behind Andrei Vasilevskiy while adding more ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook June 29, 2023 NASHVILLE -  The days of sitting near the front of the draft floor for the Tampa Bay Lightning remain in the rear view mirror. At some point, that object will be closer than it appears when peering at the sideview mirror, but for now, the draft classes for the Tampa Bay Lightning remain an opportunity to try and find some gems to help build up a depleted farm system that has been a source to keep the big club at the front of the line of contenders. A ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook May 2, 2023 TAMPA -  Throughout the course of the regular season Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't look like the Andrei Vasilevskiy the league had come to know and love. The perennial Vezina Trophy candidate never really found a groove in his game. The consistency level that made him so great, particularly in the postseason, just looked off. Goals were going through him, a sure sign that things were not up to his level. There were still plenty of top notch performances, j ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook May 2, 2023 TAMPA - There is no time to rest when it comes to the National Hockey League playoffs. From one round right in to the next with no time to catch your breath from all that great action from the first round. And there are plenty of intriguing story lines for Tampa Bay Lightning fans to follow even with the three-time defending Price of Wales winners not a participant. From the Cinderella expansion team looking to face the other expansion team, the first ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook May 1, 2023 TAMPA -  That meme of John Travolta of a scene from Pulp Fiction of his character, Vincent Vega, pacing back and forth as if he's looking lost in search of something to do might as well represent Tampa Bay Lightning fans after a rarity - a first round postseason exit. After three consecutive lengthy runs through the playoffs, the Lightning were knocked out in the first round for just the third time since 2014 and for just the fourth time in that same s ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook April 28, 2023 TAMPA -  Every team in the playoffs looks for depth scoring. Generally, any team which winds up marching through a postseason receives that type of secondary scoring to help support the offense. No team to this point of the postseason has received more depth scoring than the Tampa Bay Lightning. But to keep their season alive heading into Game 6 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and force a deciding Game 7, the Lightning are going to need add some off ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook April 26, 2023 TAMPA -  Every year in the postseason, television networks reach out to league personalities - coaches or players - in the attempt to bring in guest analysts to serve on a panel for pregame, intermission and postgame segments. Those inside the game offer perspective for what's happening in postseason action when their team is not participating. It makes for a good opportunity for the networks to add to their coverage and provide viewers with inside ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook April 25, 2023 TAMPA -  There are examples all over the league showcasing the difference between regular season hockey and playoff hockey. From intensity, compete level, shot blocking and finishing a check at every opportunity. It's just different. It's so different that the Tampa Bay Lightning have already done something twice in the past two games they rarely did at any point during the regular season and it has their back against the wall in the postseson. &nbs ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook April 23, 2023 TAMPA -  Three games into the opening round series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs shows little difference between the two teams - on the ice. Each team has a lopsided victory and the third game went to overtime. The aggregate in goals is 14-12 for the Leafs. Toronto leads in games 2-1. Yet, being the team in front, the Leafs are starting to show cracks developing from the pressure of no playoff series wins in 19 years.   ..read more

Subscribe to the Lightning Insider newsletter     by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook April 22, 2023 TAMPA -  The injury suffered by Tanner Jeannot looked bad. Like, bad, bad. Jeannot fell backward after getting tangled up with New York Islanders' defenseman Scott Mayfield on April 6 at UBS Arena, getting his right leg pinned under him as Mayfield fell on top. Somehow, two weeks after what appeared to be a potential season-ending injury, Jeannot was back in the lineup for Game 2 of the postseason series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. While the ga ..read more