We’re finally getting around to reviewing the 2022-23 season. Instead of assigning grades or any of that nonsense, we’ll start by looking at the player’s best goal from the season and go from there. For some it’ll be easy, others have way more to choose from.
Player
Anthony Cirelli
Stat Line
58 games played, 11 goals, 18 assists, 33 PIMs, 111 shots, 11.71 iXG, 34 hits 16:34 TOI
(playoffs) 6 games played, 3 goals, 3 assists, 4 PIM, 12 shots, 1.09 iXG (5v5),17 hits, 17:49 TOI
Goal of the Year Video
NHL.com
Goal of the Year description
One thing you notice when reviewing Anthony Cirelli goals is that nine times out of ten, Tony Two Goals is getting knocked on his keister when scoring them. This one is no different.
Alex Killorn is able to easily enter the zone as the Ducks back off. A nice little bump pass to himself took him to the middle of the ice and left acres of wide open space for Nick Perbix to skate into. Killorn backhanded him the puck and Perbix zoomed in untouched. Look, I know Steven Stamkos has 500+ goals on his resume, but I think this might be a bit overboard in making sure he was covered:
Meanwhile, Cirelli is untouched down low. Perbix saw the lane and whipped a pass right onto Cirelli’s stick. The first touch was absolutely sublime and he paused just a second as Lukas Dostal wildly overcommitted to the forehand. Cirelli drew it to his backhand and roofed it just before he got knocked to the ice.
Excellent positioning, soft hands, and a willingness to take the hit to make the play – a typical Anthony Cirelli goal.
How did 2022-23 go for them?
Kind of meh for Cirelli who didn’t see the ice until the 24th game of the season as he recovered from off-season shoulder surgery. After picking up 6 points (all assists) in his first 5 games, he slumped a bit with just 3 (1 goal, 2 assists) in his next 15. That was the way it would go for most of the season offensively as he would pick up points in a couple of games and then disappear from the stat sheet for a week or two. Still, he managed to finish within his usual career rates in goals and assists per 60 minutes. Had he played a full season he likely would have been in his usual 40-45 point range.
Even if he wasn’t scoring, Cirelli was generating scoring chances for himself and his teammates. While he wasn’t one to attack off the rush, he was pretty effective down low when cycling the puck. He was the Lightning player to generate the most shots off of high-danger passes as well as one of the top players on the team to generate high-danger passes. (in case you were wondering, that Shark on the far right side of the upper quadrant is Michael Eyssimont)
Defensively, like most of his teammates, he slipped a bit from the outstanding 2021-22 campaign where he was one of the best defensive forwards in the game.
Cirelli was one of the few forwards to have a strong series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the postseason as he was tied with Nikita Kucherov for the team lead in points with 6 (3 goals, 3 assists) with 5 of those points coming at even strength.
As usual, he was the Lightning’s most relied upon penalty killer, averaging 2:21 of short-handed time per game, tops among forwards. Two of his goals came shorthanded (in back-to-back games) and he now has 11 career short-handed goals, fourth all-time for the Lightning, and tops among active Bolts.
Despite being on the ice for so much short-handed time, his 6.18 GA/60 trailed only Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s 6.11 GA/60 among players that had more than 50 minutes of shorthanded ice time. In short, he remained one of the best penalty killers on a team that struggled to kill them off. Hopefully, some of the off-season additions should help him next season.
2023-24 Contract Status
Signed through 2030-31. Cirelli’s 8-year extension kicks in next season and his cap hit will be $6.25 million. With a $6.5 million signing bonus, his actual salary for next year is $8.125 million.
Do we expect them to score more or less next season?
More. Not only are we expecting it, we are counting on it. With the loss of offense from Corey Perry, Alex Killorn, and Ross Colton, Cirelli is a prime candidate to bump his goal total to help replace some of those goals. If he can stay healthy for the entire season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to score between 16-20 goals.
He may also see a bump in power play time as well. Last season, between the delayed start to the season and his role on the team, he only acquired 32:30 of ice time on the power play. That’s the lowest total he has had since his first full season on the team in 2018-19. Two seasons ago he put up 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) in 107:46, so a return to either the first or second man-advantage teams could boost his offensive numbers.
Cirelli is most likely to start the season as the second-line center with Steven Stamkos on one side and TO BE DETERMINED on the other. Conor Sheary is penciled into that slot, but there will likely be a training camp battle to earn it for opening night.
One of the big adjustments Cirelli will be facing is life without Alex Killorn by his side. They were together for pretty much every regular 5v5 shift last season and produced a 62.79% goals for share together. Without Killorn, Cirelli was at 57.14% GF and Killorn was at 50% GF. Adjusting to new linemates is always fun and we’ll see how he handles that.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing him slot down into the third-line center with Tanner Jeannot and Josh Archibald to absolutely shut down opponents and harass them on the forecheck for 15-20 minutes a night, but Coach Cooper seems set on letting him center the second line.
