The Tampa Bay Lightning have the same core players but a new supporting cast. After a strong training camp, they're looking to continue competing at a high level.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Last year: 3rd in the Atlantic Division (lost in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs)

Projected: 4th in Atlantic, top wild-card spot. 

Keys to the Season

Goaltending: When news broke that Andrei Vasilevskiy would miss the first two months of the season to repair a herniated disc, there was some initial panic for obvious reasons. Jonas Johansson remained calm and stepped into his backup role almost seamlessly. 

Now that he’s earned a spot on the Opening Night roster, making 94 saves on 96 shots in three starts, things have settled down a bit. The Lightning know as well as anyone that good goaltending is what gets you to the finish line. They’ll need consistency from both Johansson and Matt Tompkins at the beginning of the season in order to avoid playing catch-up when Vasilevskiy does come back.

The Lightning have been without their best players before. They played an entire regular season without Nikita Kucherov and have missed Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli at crucial times. Not ideal but they’ll get through it short term. 

Defense: How can they help the rotating backup goalies? By playing good defense. This is something they struggled with last year and have made changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again. With a new defensive scheme in place, there will be an adjustment period in the beginning. Ultimately, each goalie’s success will depend largely on the defense played in front of the net. Johansson had a strong preseason, but if they can make his life a little bit easier, they’ll be in a good place.

Cirelli, Paul and Hagel: The expectations will be high for this crew. Anthony Cirelli already does a ton but he could also see additional time on the top power-play unit, filling Alex Killorn’s spot down low.

Brandon Hagel signed a contract extension this summer that will keep him in Tampa long term. He was signed for a reason, because he's a great fit in the locker room and can use his speed to fly down the ice and score. With that said, he’ll be expected to continue at the pace he left off at last season. 

They’re going to need to see scoring from Nick Paul this year. He had an incredible start with the Lightning after they signed him at the trade deadline. He struggled to put the puck in the net last season but made up for it in other aspects of his game. All signs point to him finding a way to score. He seems confident and comfortable going into the season. 

Most-Likely Scenario: The Lightning prove the pundits wrong and make another deep run. They don’t get the credit they deserve and if we're being honest, I have absolutely no idea why people still doubt them.

Worst-Case Scenario: Vasilevskiy takes longer to come back and they’re not able to hold their own while he's out. They can absolutely handle the adversity, but it will put more pressure on them as the Atlantic Division continues to get more competitive. 

RANKINGS IN THE ATLANTIC DIVISION 

1. TORONTO
2. BOSTON
3. FLORIDA
4. TAMPA BAY
5. BUFFALO
6. OTTAWA
7. DETROIT
8. MONTREAL