After months without Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, the Bolts are finally back in action on Friday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. The wait is finally over, and fans are in to watch a new generation of Lightning hockey. Tampa Bay’s front office left us a lot to unpack after a busy offseason for the first time in years. Despite the damage caused by Hurricane Milton postponing their home opener that was slated for Oct. 12, the Lightning are eager and ready to go for whatever obstacles come their way. First, let’s run through the hectic offseason before we jump into head coach Jon Cooper’s opening night line combinations.
Lightning Offseason in a Nutshell
The team experienced a culture shock when they let captain Steven Stamkos walk in free agency (Stamkos signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the Nashville Predators.) General manager (GM) Julien BriseBois sent star defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for multiple young assets looking to impact the roster immediately. Those names include J.J. Moser and Conor Geekie, who will play vital roles in the opening-night lineup. The Lightning also moved on from Tanner Jeannot, sending his services to the Los Angeles Kings for draft picks. The club also lost 2024 Trade Deadline acquisitions Anthony Duclair and Matt Dumba to higher bidders in free agency. While the subtractions left some holes, how did Lightning management fill them?
Related: What Geekie Making the Opening Night Roster Means for the Lightning
BriseBois was not shy this summer when preparing the Lightning roster for the 2024-25 season. After losing Stamkos in contract negotiations, he immediately sent a third-round draft pick to acquire star winger Jake Guentzel’s signing rights from Carolina. Then, he signed Guentzel to a seven-year, $63 million contract. In addition, BriseBois added some cost-effective organizational depth, signing deals with Zemgus Girgensons, Cam Atkinson, and Jesse Ylonen. One of the big question marks surrounding the Lightning is if the team improved compared to last season with all the changes. The answer to that will be revealed at puck drop tonight in Raleigh. With all these changes, what does Tampa Bay’s opening-night lineup look like?
Cooper’s Final Line Combinations Before Puck Drop
Many spent all offseason speculating what the Lightning’s opening lineup could look like, and it’s finally here. To no one’s surprise, the top line will feature the Lightning’s superstar trio in Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Guentzel. This line has expectations to be one of the best in the NHL and will do most of the goal scoring for this roster. Moreover, the two workhorses, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli, round out the top six. A question mark throughout the offseason is who would fill the second-line right-wing role, a weak spot for the roster. Many speculated Atkinson or even Conor Sheary. Yet, it appears the Lightning will switch Nick Paul to the wing to play on the top six alongside the two hard-working forwards, a surprise out of left field.
Things look different on the bottom six than anticipated. Instead of Paul centering the third line, the Lightning promoted Luke Glendening to fill that role. Cooper appears to have created a shutdown line featuring Mitchell Chaffee, Glendening, and Girgensons. While this trio combination isn’t shocking, many didn’t anticipate them being the Lightning’s third line. Rounding out the forward core is the intriguing fourth line, one that is sneaky and has the potential to pop off offensively versus weaker competition. The rookie Geekie, acquired in the Sergachev trade, will center two veterans in Sheary and Atkinson. This line has solid depth scorers who hopefully will provide a secondary layer of offense for a shallow Lightning forward core.
Looking at the back end, things shaped up as expected. Victor Hedman will have the youngster Moser as his partner to start the season. With Moser’s ability to defend the rush, Hedman can maximize his offensive game up front. Moser is a long-term asset for the organization that will continue to improve each season. The second pairing is a re-unification between Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, the famous shutdown pair from the Lightning’s cup runs. Despite McDonagh’s age, he will be vital in Cernak’s resurgence, as he struggled without McDonagh since his departure from Tampa Bay. The back end’s depth is a strong suit of the roster. The Lightning has a rotation between Darren Raddysh, Nick Perbix, and Emil Lilleberg. All three players have underdog stories and have stepped up big-time for the Lightning blue line in recent seasons.
Lightning Different, But Fans Should Be Optimistic
The Lightning roster hasn’t looked this different in years, but fans should remain optimistic with the changes. After back-to-back first-round exits, the Lightning needed a new formula to shock the league. With their additions, the team looks to take the Atlantic Division by storm. Despite all the chaos with Hurricane Milton, the Lightning are safe and ready to go.
For my final words before the season starts, I would like to announce that I’ll be hand-tracking microstats for the Lightning throughout the season. This dataset includes data points such as passes, zone entries, and additional stats the NHL doesn’t cover. I will share my findings in articles throughout the season, so stay tuned for updates there.
