Last season the Tampa Bay Lightning were at a disadvantage with Andrei Vasilevskiy after letting an injury linger on the whole year. Not being safe with the team’s MVP left Vasilevskiy to be not at his best. After a long summer, Vasilevskiy is back to being day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. It’s important he and team don’t make the same mistake twice and prepare Vasilevskiy for when it matters.
The Lightning are a really good team, and I would say arguably in a better position this season than they were last year with their depth and defense more shored up with midseason and summer additions. Everyone has had a summer to get better, develop, and to build cohesion. And with the Boston Bruins likely taking a big step back from their record breaking season, there should be less risk about missing the playoffs, which was never really a concern last year. Buffalo probably has the best chance to beat someone out of a playoff spot, but Tampa are in a good spot for it to not be them.
So when Vasilevskiy comes down with an injury, it should be in everyone’s best interest to make sure he’s 101% healthy, sturdy, and flexible. Johansson and Alnefelt for a month or so won’t hurt anyone.
Here were the lines from practice over the weekend. No changes at the moment. I like the plan of getting a group together and working on chemistry. No need to mess with players who know what their roles are going to be. There will be opportunities to step up and coaches will be watching everyone.
Possible starter pads for the first bit of the season? Just to be safe, right?
Lightning assistant coach Rob Zettler spoke to the media over the weekend and had the following to say about some of the players.
The Lightning will get today off from practice as they get ready for the team’s first preseason games. We’ll have coverage as we go.
This article talks about how the Lightning just can’t give Stamkos anything he wants at this point when cap space is tight and the team is still believed to be a contender. What do you think will happen?
Some prospect highlights, sources say Huuhtanen is going to show up in the T25 this week!
In some non-Bolts news, get to know the Seattle Kraken a little bit with their questions going into the season.
