Quick Strikes: The Lightning are the best!

The Lightning are the best, Witko is the new captain in Syracuse, Randy Carlyle is still not a good coach, and more in this morning’s reads.

By loserpoints@loserpoints Oct 21, 2016, 7:00am EDT

The Bolts

ESPN ranked the Lightning as the best franchise in the four major US sports leagues. Take that, other 121 teams. [Tampa Bay Business Journal]
Vinny Lacavalier is happy to be back home in Tampa. [Sports Talk Florida]
Check out the latest episode of the Bolt Prospects podcast. [Bolt Prospects]

The Crunch named 26 year old defender Luke Witkowski as team captain. Witkowski follows Mike Angelidis who was captain of the Crunch for the last four seasons.

The Penguins agreed to an extension with goaltender Matt Murray. The contract is similar to the one Andre Vasilevskiy signed with the Lightning during the summer. [Pensburgh]
Canadiens defender Zach Redmond broke his foot during practice and will miss around six weeks. [Eyes on the Prize]
The Blackhawks are playing a 37 year old defender on his off-side and seem unhappy with the results. [Second City Hockey]
The Matt Murray signing creates an interesting challenge for the Penguins as they prepare for the expansion draft. [Today’s Slapshot]
Noted analytics darling Nino Niederreiter is only getting 13 minutes per game in Minnesota and that has to be fixed. [Hockey Wilderness]
Alex Radulov seems to fitting in perfectly with his new team in Montreal. [Eyes on the Prize]
Randy Carlyle is already dragging down the Ducks. [Today’s Slapshot]
If you enjoy detailed play breakdowns, here’s one of Marian Hossa’s 500th career goal. [Second City Hockey]
NHL.com finally arrives at the fate it deserves. [Lighthouse Hockey]
The Washington Capitals are bunch of crossword puzzle loving nerds. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]