For the first time since the start of the 2007 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play a season without Steven Stamkos. The long-time Bolts captain jumped ship at the beginning of free agency for a lucrative deal with the Nashville Predators. With Stamkos gone Tampa Bay will have to figure out a new identity. The Lightning filled the position of Stamkos by promptly signing veteran scorer Jake Guentzel. The 29-year-old forward is coming off a season in which he scored 30 goals and 77 points while splitting time between the Penguins and Hurricanes. Even though Guentzel fills the spot on paper, doesn't mean that he will be able to fill the 40-goal-per-year void left at the winger spot on the first line. Luckily this is a position the Lightning have been in before, and have succeeded.
There is no greater example of this than during the 2020 Stanley Cup run during the Covid-19 pandemic. Stamkos previously suffered a core muscle injury that required surgery and would have prevented him from finishing the remainder of the season. The captain would reinjure himself during workouts in preparation for the Stanley Cup Playoffs but would come back in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final to log just 2:47 of ice time. This would result in one of the most iconic moments in Lightning history with Stamkos scoring on his first and only shot of the game. It would be revealed later that Stamkos reinjured himself on the play.
The 2020 Stanly Cup run was not defined by what Steven Stamkos did in his short time on the ice, it was what The Lightning were able to accomplish without their top scorer. The story of that championship run is how that club found ways to win against some of the best teams in the league, despite not having their top scorer.
Fast-forwarding four years years later the Lightning will attempt to win a Stanley Cup without 91. What plays in for the Lightning this time around is that they have a more experienced and mature group to lead the charge. Brayden Point is one player who has certainly grown since the 2020 run that saw him become a playoff nightmare for any opponent. Point has taken off since then as he amassed 148 goals over four seasons, with 51 coming during the 2022 season. With the addition of Jake Guentzel projected to play on the first line, Point will certainly be the prime offensive option for Nikita Kucherov. Without the need to constantly set up the one-timer in the left circle, creativity will be able to flourish.
With Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov leading the charge offensively, the Lightning will be more than able to produce at a level to keep them at the top of the division, as well as another championship.
