The Tampa Bay Lightning were another team that didn’t have much salary cap space to make a move at the trade deadline. Forward depth was an area of emphasis, which they fixed with two additions from the Seattle Kraken. Yanni Gourde was a former fan favorite for the Lightning during their dynasty years, and they re-acquired him along with Oliver Bjorkstrand.
General manager Julien BriseBois has been known to be free with his draft picks and used that strategy again. He traded two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a fourth. The only roster player he had to get rid of was Michael Eyssimont, who is expendable if getting Bjorkstrand and Gourde in return.
The massive question surrounding the Lightning is whether they did enough to keep pace in the Atlantic Division. The former kings of the division have been overtaken by their in-state rivals over the past few seasons, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have also closed the gap.
The Lightning are confident with their group in the room, but it’s time to start questioning how they stack up against the rest of their rivals. The Metropolitan Division looks like a much easier path, and it isn’t easy to see Tampa Bay being the team that emerges from the Atlantic.
Atlantic Division’s trade deadline winners were the Panthers
The division race is tight, with the Lightning, Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers within two points of each other for the division crown. Getting the first seed in this division will be crucial, as the winners could face one of the Montreal Canadiens or Ottawa Senators. It leaves the other two teams in a lengthy battle with each other.
The Panthers look like the team in the best position to emerge from the Atlantic. However, they are without Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad, and likely Brad Marchand for the remainder of the regular season. After adding Marchand and Seth Jones, Florida is a scary team, but their regular season injuries could knock them into the 2 vs. 3 matchup.
The Panthers’ roster looks so good on paper that the 2 vs. 3 matchup might not matter. The concerning thing for the Lightning could be if the Maple Leafs grab the first spot, and then Tampa Bay has to play Florida with all their stars back in the lineup. It would be an extremely disappointing result for the Lightning but an ironic twist after all the Lightning’s years of cap circumvention.
Maple Leafs hope for a new identity in playoffs
Everyone knows about the Maple Leafs’ woes in the postseason. They finally advanced past the first round when they defeated the Lightning in the 2023 postseason but went back to losing in the first round last year against the Boston Bruins. The team opted for a culture change, bringing in a more hardened head coach in Craig Berube, who won a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
The Maple Leafs look like a different team this year. They sacrificed some of their offensive explosiveness to become a more defensive unit that can thrive in playoff hockey. There are some concerns about how they have been playing recently, but the fans will be okay if it means more playoff success.
Toronto has had plenty of regular seasons in which it looked like a Stanley Cup contender but faltered in the playoffs. It might not be a big deal to enter this postseason with fewer expectations. The Maple Leafs defeated the Lightning in the first round during the Sheldon Keefe era and have been successful against them during the 2024-25 regular season. The Maple Leafs are not a team the Lightning want to play.
Lightning securing home-ice advantage will be crucial
The number-one goal for any of the Atlantic Division teams has to be the first seed. However, it’ll be critical for the Lightning not to fall to third and have to be on the road for both of the first two series. The home-ice advantage could be the difference between winning and losing that first-round series, especially if it’s against the Panthers.
The Lightning have to do everything they can to capitalize on the regular season’s final month. The Maple Leafs are struggling, and the Panthers won’t be healthy again until the playoffs. Tampa Bay is in the driver’s seat to steal the Atlantic Division crown. If they fail to do that, it could be an early exit in this year’s postseason. The first seed is the goal, but getting at least the second seed is crucial.
