Lightning Round: The boys were quite stylish this season

Thank you for indulging us as we took a small break to decompress from the end of the season and the run up to the draft and free agency. With things slowing down a bit we figured it was a good time to go dark for a couple of days. Now we’re back and ready to help you through the offseason.

If you had been paying attention this season, it seems like players’ off-the-ice fit has received more attention than ever before. Our friends at The Athletic had been ranking styles all season long and finally announced their 2021-22 Style King. The winner - David Pastrnak.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were well represented with Mikhail Sergachev and Steven Stamkos finishing just outside of the top ten and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare finding a spot in the top 20. Mathieu Joseph piled up a bunch of points early in the season when he was still with the Bolts, so that should could for something as well.

The suits are all in the closet for now (we can assume) as the players enjoy the comforts of summer in more relaxing clothing, but expect some solid new looks next fall. I’m pretty sure Victor Hedman will look to find a spot on this list in 2022-23.

Lightning / NHL News

The kids seems to have some swagger to him, doesn’t he? Isaac Howard has always believed in himself and his play on the ice seems to make believers out of everyone who watches him play.

Another former member of the Syracuse Crunch has joined their rivals north of the border in Laval. This time it was defenseman Alex Green signing a one-year AHL contract with the Rocket.

Green was a restricted free agent that wasn’t tendered a contract by the Lightning this summer and was free to sign with any team. The 24 year-old defenseman posted 26 points (5 goals, 21 assists) in his second season with the Crunch. The Rocket had previously signed Anthony Richard this summer. Former Crunch forward Mitchell Stephens also joined the Rocket in recent days.

The agents and lawyers for members of the 2018 Team Canada World Junior Hockey Team continue to release statements distancing themselves from the alleged sexual assault that happened at a team function.

While the Lightning pretty much have all of their offseason business wrapped up (I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of signings for the Crunch at some point) other teams are still trying to put their roster together. Things aren’t going well in Calgary. They lost Johnny Gaudreau in free agency and are now going to arbitration with one of their other young stars, Matthew Tkachuk.

The New Jersey Devils signed their new goalie, Vitek Vanecek, to a three-year, $10.2 million contract. I guess they had plenty of money left over after missing out on the Gaudreau sweepstakes. Gotta give it to somebody.

Speaking of free agents that the Devils did sign, something about this just isn’t right. It’s going to take awhile to get used to.