review of the Florida Panthers\u2019 offseason<\/a>, all eight of the teams in the division could be in the fight for a playoff spot this coming season.<\/p>\nYes, while teams like Ottawa, Detroit, and Toronto have their issues, it is not a stretch to imagine a season where things go their way \u2014 see Boston last year \u2014 and the division is even tougher than before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for the Lightning, this offseason had its moments but not much drama; GM\u00a0Julien BriseBois\u00a0simply added to his core group of players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Lightning has been to the playoffs nine straight seasons with two Stanley Cup championships credited to its main group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nikita Kucherov\u00a0is coming off yet another monster season and is eligible for a contract extension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although that bit of work has not been done this offseason, it is just another piece of business for the Lightning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At least they hope so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING OFFSEASON<\/p>\n
Key Additions: D\u00a0John Carlson\u00a0(FA-Anaheim); F\u00a0Ilya Mikheyev\u00a0(FA-Chicago); F\u00a0Jeffrey Viel\u00a0(FA-Anaheim); G\u00a0Dennis Hildeby\u00a0(Trade-Toronto);\u00a0<\/p>\n
Key Subtractions:\u00a0D\u00a0Darren Raddysh\u00a0(T-FA Toronto);\u00a0F\u00a0Nick Paul\u00a0(T-Toronto); F\u00a0Corey Perry\u00a0(FA-Los Angeles); F\u00a0Oliver Bjorkstrand\u00a0(FA-NY Rangers); D\u00a0Declan Carlile\u00a0(FA-Pittsburgh)<\/p>\n
The Big Move:\u00a0Someone was going to overpay Raddysh after his big season in Tampa Bay last season \u2014 only it was not going to be the Lightning. Tampa Bay traded his rights to the Maple Leafs who signed the 30-year old to an eight-year deal after he put up career numbers for the Bolts. The Lightning replaced him with the veteran Carlson, giving him a two-year deal worth $17 million.<\/p>\n
The Big Gamble:\u00a0The Lightning will try and replace some of the minutes Raddysh covered with Carlson who split his time last season with the Capitals and Ducks. Carlson is 36 but should be a low-risk move for Tampa Bay; although he will get about what Raddysh would cost for the next two seasons, it\u2019s only for the next two seasons. Carlson is a Cup champion with Washington and should fit right in with the Lightning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Grade:\u00a0B+. The Lightning did not make many big swings, nor did it have to. Mikheyev could turn out to be a real nice add to the bottom-6 and Hildeby may give\u00a0Andrei Vasilevskiy\u00a0a little bit of relief if needed.<\/p>\n
ON DECK: FLORIDA PANTHERS\u00a0OFFSEASON<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlantic Division remains the toughest in the NHL going into the new season and the solid consistency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[34364,53265,16995,135149,51845,148753,51475,148754,15951,16976,135,862,137,136],"class_list":["post-366835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-andrei-vasilevskiy","tag-darren-raddysh","tag-florida-panthers","tag-john-carlson","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-nhl-atlantic-division","tag-nhl-free-agency","tag-nhl-offseason","tag-nhl-trade","tag-nikita-kucherov","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-lightning","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}