Tampa Bay Lightning: 5 Items the Tampa Bay Lightning Need to Address

Well, the wait is over and the Tampa Bay Lightning can finally get their offseason acquisitions into the locker room and on the ice. Coming off a disappointing 2011-12 season, the Lightning have these five things they need to address in the upcoming season. 

From defense to goaltending to special teams, the Lightning were plagued by misfortune last season. While the lockout wasn’t the way many players wanted to rest, the additional time off might not be a bad thing for the beat-up Tampa Bay squad. 

With the season just around the corner, these are the five things Tampa needs to address in preseason camp. This is a big season for the Lightning—the 20th anniversary of the team—and has even been given its own slogan, "20 Years of Thunder."

Goaltending Split

The Lightning acquired Anders Lindback from the Nashville Predators in the offseason, but he has never been a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL. Mathieu Garon struggled last season and has been bitten by the injury bug recently. 

With a shortened season, the Lightning don’t have the time to be patient waiting for someone to take the No. 1 spot. Who will see the most time in the crease? Will it be more of a 50-50 split? Is Lindy the man? 

Once that gets answered, who is the No. 3? Dustin Tokarski of the Syracuse Crunch?

Questions surround the Lightning netminders.

Power Play

When people think of Tampa Bay, they usually think of the offensive studs that have been the focal point of the franchise—players like Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos, and Teddy Purcell. 

With the offensive talent the Bolts have, it is nearly inexcusable to not have one of the best power-play units in the league. Last season, Tampa finished tied for 25th in the NHL on the power play (15.2 percent). 

Something is going to need to change for the Lightning on the power play. They were 16th in the league in power-play time (436:37). With that much time on the PP, the Lightning have to take advantage. 

In 2010-11—when the Bolts made it to the Eastern Conference Finals—they boasted the sixth-best PP unit in the league.

Call-Ups

Tampa Bay has some studs in the American Hockey League that could be knocking on the door of NHL spots.  

The Lightning added depth this offseason with Benoit Pouliot and B.J. Crombeen, but some members of the Syracuse Crunch may have something to say about those spots.

Players in Europe have their eyes on spots as well. 

Players to watch for: 

1. Brett Connolly
2. Cory Conacher
3. Dustin Tokarski
4. Slater Koekkoek
5. Mark Barberio
6. Andrey Vasilevskiy
7. Alex Killorn
8. Tyler Johnson

Defensive Pairs

Injuries destroyed the Lightning blue line last season. Mattias Ohlund missed significant time. Marc-Andre Bergeron sat out a portion of the season and the Lightning defense never settled in.

This offseason, Tampa brought in Sami Salo and Matt Carle to bolster the defense. But who are the pairs going to be? Could Matt Carle be a second-pair defenseman? 

Here are the defensemen listed by the Lighting: 

• Bergeron
• Carle
• Salo
• Eric Brewer
• Victor Hedman
• Brian Lee
• Brendan Mikkelson
• Mattias Ohlund

That’s eight very talented and capable defensemen for very few spots. Who will make up the three pairs?

How Quickly Will the Team Adopt Coach Guy Boucher’s Style?

The lockout has shortened the season and preparation as well. During the lockout, no official team practices could be conducted. This is especially dangerous for the Lightning due to the complex system run by coach Guy Boucher. 

The coaching staff will need to figure out who fits and does not fit into the system immediately. Could Matt Carle and Sami Salo be scratched early in the season for returning Lightning until they get the system figured out? 

How will this affect the new forwards in Boucher’s unconventional 1-3-1 forecheck? 

Boucher noted (via the Lightning Website) that when he came to Tampa, he didn’t focus on the details of the system as much as the important stuff. How would a similar training camp affect the Bolts this season? 

A slow start doomed Tampa last season. They can’t afford another one in 2012-13.