EditorialNHL

No Lightning In The Storm Brewing Over Tampa

By Kristi Loucks
Is there a rift growing between Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and Jon Cooper?
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Sparks Ignited

Just six months ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked unstoppable. They fought their way into the Stanley Cup Final and battled valiantly against a veteran Chicago Blackhawks squad though the Cup ultimately stayed in Chicago as the Bolts lost in game six.

For many, there was no doubt that the young Lightning team would bounce back from the heartbreaking loss in the Cup Final, and steamroll their way through the East once again. Unfortunately, they have not done a whole lot of steamrolling in the first half of the season.

Breakdown Here

Like many teams, they have had their share of injuries with Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Cedric Paquette each missing significant chunks of time. Each of them was integral in the Bolts run last season and have been sorely missed.

The Triplet Line that electrified the league through much of last season has been all but decimated by injuries this year. With Johnson and Palat limited to just 18 points between the two.  Johnson has appeared in 26, and Palat has appeared in 19 of the team’s 39 games.

There is also the elephant in the room. While coach Jon Cooper was recently signed to a contract extension, there has been little movement with regards to an extension for Steven Stamkos. A player who general manager Steve Yzerman deemed a top priority over the summer last year.

The lack of a contract or signs that there is any kind of a deal in the works has fans concerned and rumor watchers foaming at the mouth. It has been a veritable Where’s Waldo with Stamkos watch landing him with half the teams in the league before the deadline.

In fact, Stamkos nearly broke the internet when he ‘liked’ a tweet that had him moving to his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He has been linked to the Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, and just about every other team in need of a pivot.

On just about any other team, Stamkos would be considered a franchise player, but it remains unclear where he stands with the Bolts.

Rift or Rumor?

Another concern for the Lightning is the growing speculation of a rift between Cooper and Stamkos. Cooper prefers to play Stamkos out of position at wing while Stamkos obviously prefers to remain in his natural position at center. He is currently centering the top line, but he has bounced around throughout the season from wing to center and back, which has led to some frustration.

In fact, many believe if the coaching staff had opted to play Stamkos at center in place of the injured Tyler Johnson in the Finals last year, the Lightning could have been more effective against the Blackhawks. Considering only one game was decided by more than one goal, there could be some validity to that argument.

Johnson had carried a lot of the scoring throughout the playoffs, but a wrist injury had limited his ability to take faceoffs for the Bolts. Instead, Cooper opted to slot in the two wings in Palat and Nikita Kucherov to handle the faceoffs while Johnson moved to wing.

The injury to Johnson also kept him off the score sheet. We will never know what moving Stamkos to back to centering Palat and Kucherov might have done for the team, but it has left the door open for a lot of speculation.

For the record, both Johnson and Stamkos have denied that there is a rift between the two, but until Stamkos signs an extension all of the rumors and speculation will simply continue to ramp up.

Will he head home to Toronto?

Could he be a rental player alongside longtime friend P.K. Subban with the Montreal Canadiens?

https://twitter.com/habsiq/status/677131917376937984

It seems unlikely that Stamkos would be moved as long as there is a chance that the Bolts could make the playoffs, because they are better with him than without.  If a deal were to come down the wire, there would have to be one heck of a return.  The Lightning are currently just two points from a Wild Card slot, and four points outside of the third place slot.

Even if the teams decided that parting ways was the best option, it would seem a Brandon Saad type of last minute deal might garner a better return, without leveraging their chance at a return to the playoffs.

What Are The Bolts Doing With Drouin?

Another big concern has been the up and down play of Jonathan Drouin. In the first five games of the season, he registered six points; In the next 14 he registered two. He has been a healthy scratch on a number of occasions and was recently assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

The Bolts are hoping to re-ignite the young phenom as he has been considered a key cog in the machine for the Bolts future. Drouin was drafted third overall in the 2013 NHL Draft, and the Lightning had high expectations for him coming into the season.

It is clear that the talent is there, but the Bolts and Drouin simply haven’t been able to find any kind of consistency as of yet.

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