The beauty about the start of NHL training camp is the idea of hope.
Everyone is back to square one with the idea of skating around the ice with the Stanley Cup come June. And whether a team is a true contender or a big dreamer, the idea that "anything can happen" sustains us all.
Anything can happen, of course. Anything can also be good or bad, but we're keeping the vibes positive because hockey is just getting started with teams having their rookie camps and prospect tournaments going on ahead of the official start of training camp.
We're working on being positive ourselves and we're going to lean into it by scheming up one reason for every team to think big with the season on the horizon in October. Does every team realistically have a shot at going all the way? Definitely not, but success for one team would be a huge disappointment for others and it's all a matter of perspective here.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The next chapter
The Lightning let Steven Stamkos go, and while that could've been a PR disaster, they weathered it well enough by adding the best free-agent forward on the market in Jake Guentzel to soften the blow.
That GM Julien BriseBois reacquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh from Nashville and later traded Mikhail Sergachev to Utah were two of the more unpredictable moves of the offseason, but it showed that a cap-strapped team has to know when it's time to adjust the situation to stay in a contender's position.
They filled out their ranks with inexpensive deals for forwards Cam Atkinson and Zemgus Girgensons and added J.J. Moser in the Sergachev deal. The Lightning turned the page on their past and are moving forward with more than enough guys who helped them win back-to-back Cups.
That on top of a slightly longer offseason to rest up should mean taking the Lightning lightly would be a painful mistake.
