Tampa won't make the playoffs next year

[Rodgort]

How is no one talking about the fact they will probably have a healthy Stamkos ALL SEASON! Or maybe someone did and I just did not notice. But I think he can help them into the playoffs or at least increase their chances. Their young guys could hit a sophomore slump or they could continue to be awesome, who knows. Let the off season play out first.

But I agree the East is wide open aside from Boston and Pitts making the playoffs

[Shiva Blaster]

A healthy Stamkos, Hedman reaching elite status, and another year of development for some very good young players? They'll be right back in.

[Magicstew]

Tampa Bay is a very solid team. Ottawa is not.
I guess we'll have to just see again next year.
BOOKMARK.

Hot Goaltending can carry you a long ways, even in regular season. Ottawa tenders may turn it around next year.

[Big Ev]

A healthy Stamkos, Hedman reaching elite status, and another year of development for some very good young players? They'll be right back in.

Healthy spezza and karlsson, another year of development for the young players, and missed the playoffs. the similarities are quite shocking, especially the captain being lost.

[mister_mcgoo]

A healthy Stamkos, Hedman reaching elite status, and another year of development for some very good young players? They'll be right back in.

Hedman was supposed to be 'elite' 4 years ago...we finally saw all that promise come to fruition THIS year, do you really think he's going to do much more beyond that? I thought he looked really good this year on both sides of the puck

[Shiva Blaster]

Healthy spezza and karlsson, another year of development for the young players, and missed the playoffs. the similarities are quite shocking, especially the captain being lost.

That's a shaky comparison at best, I'd argue that a lot of teams would be better off with Spezza not in their line-up. Stamkos is more valuable than both Spezza and Karlsson combined.....neither Karlsson or Spezza have a clue what to do in their own end of the rink.

[Shiva Blaster]

Hedman was supposed to be 'elite' 4 years ago...we finally saw all that promise come to fruition THIS year, do you really think he's going to do much more beyond that? I thought he looked really good this year on both sides of the puck

He's still young and getting better all the time, there still another gear to his game IMO.

[27Blue]

Hedman has the tools to be the best d-man in the league.

[Lucic17]

26 people are wrong TB sucks

[Shiva Blaster]

26 people are wrong TB sucks

Look, a troll crawled out from under his bridge after a 2 year hibernation! What woke you, your namesake sticking people in the nuts like a coward when they weren't looking? lol The Sens suck, the Lightning suck.......let me guess, everyone but Boston sucks right?

[Big Ev]

That's a shaky comparison at best, I'd argue that a lot of teams would be better off with Spezza not in their line-up. Stamkos is more valuable than both Spezza and Karlsson combined.....neither Karlsson or Spezza have a clue what to do in their own end of the rink.

yeah I guess you don't realize how valuable Karlsson is. Take out Hedman and Tampa doesn't make the playoffs this year.

This is a Norris trophy winner for Christ sakes, the straw that stirs the drink.

And regardless of my opinion on spezza, it was still getting a number one centre back who takes the pressure off other guys. With stamkos back, the young players might not work as hard as they did. That's what happened to the Sens.

- - - Updated - - -

26 people are wrong TB sucks

28 people are only focusing on the present. I thought this poll would be closer.

[Bass56]

I will not weigh in on my point of view here, but I would like to bring several points to the table that have been omitted until now to further discuss the matter:

1) Some compare this group of youngsters to the ones in Edmonton, but the comparison is simply on the surface (young players playing together). The core of the young players in Tampa (Killorn, Palat, Johnson,...) all played together under Cooper and dominated the AHL statistically a couple of years ago. Now that same core is playing in Tampa, with a great chemistry and a lot of heart and a good coach that knows his players. All 3 of those elements are not found in Edmonton.

2) Some are saying that Montreal is a mediocre team and that since a mediocre team beat them in 4 games, they must not be as good as their record shows. Well, I disagree here, because Montreal is a very deep team, with a great mix of veterans and youth along with a star goalie in Price; not to forget that they also landed Vanek and some key pieces at the trade deadline. They finished 9th overall in the NHL this year, tied with the powerful Kings and they have repeatedly beaten the Bruins over the years, arguably one of the best franchises in the past seasons. They had the same core last year and managed to finish 3rd overall in the shortened season. 2011-12 was a year to forget with all the injuries but it did allow them to land some solid prospects in that draft (Galchenyuk + others). Needless to say, claiming that the Habs are mediocre is unfit IMO.

3) Everyone talks about Tampa losing so quickly but no one really talks about Bishop's absence... The guy is a Vezina candidate who was replaced by a sub par backup. Most of the loses in the first round were on Lindback (not enterily, but he let in a lot of softies and he was replaced twice in 4 games). If you don't believe Bishop is as good as his stats and that this is simply a ''magical year'', I can live with that even if I don't truly agree with it. However, his ''magic'' would have most likely continued should he have been in the crease for the Bolts and the series would have clearly not ended in a sweep.

Like I said initially, I will not try to pick a side here, but I just felt that it was important to add these points for the argument's sake.

[fulcrum]

Probably one of the worst posts I've ever seen you make.

Oh... sound the guards.
Blayze is here with his profound hockey analysis.

Why can't you just respond to the thread without these lines? Honestly, you devalue your post when you start this way.....

[donpaulo]

The team had their old school core ripped out without anethesia

Its only normal that they would take a step back

They could well miss the playoffs but I am buying the product. Next season's motto could well be "its darkest before the dawn"

[big_dl]

I see the similarities between Tampa and Ottawa that would lead to the conclusion that Tampa is a prime candidate for regression next year. On the surface their numbers (Corsi, Fenwick and PDO) are similar and even are slightly in Ottawa's favour. Having said that here's why I think Tampa will be fine next year.

1. Stamkos back for a full year. This has been brought up numerous times in the thread already. I think Stamkos' struggles post St Louis (MSL) are more related to coming back from a major broken leg than the absence of MSL. We've players coming back from major injuries struggle at first as they gain trust in their rehabbed leg. I think coming back and playing a bit at the end of the season will put Stamkos ahead of the curve come next season in terms of trust in his leg. We'll likely see a bit of slide back but hell still put up dynamic numbers.

2. The development of Hedman. I'm not going to argue that Hedman is going to make the leap to 60+ points. I don't think that necessarily has to happen. I think the next step for Hedman is to move in to the elite group of minute munchers. Despite driving possession, 53.9 Corsi overall, and 4.9 Corsi Rel, Hedman only played 22.5 minutes barely cracking the top 50 in minutes per game among NHL D. He's similarly under utilized on the power play ranking 48th in the league in % of PP time he gets. This disproportionately low to where he ranks overall in 24th and CorsiRel 11th amongst NHL D. Furthermore his PDO is entirely reasonable 100.1. Furthermore Hedman didnt have obscene zone start split of CorsiQualComp. Basically he was unsheltered and used in all situations. This all points to Tampa being able to improve, or maintain, just by utilizing Hedman more.

3. Stability in Tampa. Yes they lost MSL this year, but I think it'll be less of a shock for Tampa as it happened mid-season than the shock Ottawa faced losing Alfredsson during the off-season. In all it's unlikely there's going to be a lot of turnover/change in Tampa this coming season. They've also only committed a little under 49m for next season for 15 players meaning they have 2.9m available per opening. Tampa is in a nice position moving forward and should be able to return largely the same roster they finished the season with, which was pretty deep.

I think Tampa having gotten a lot of young players experience this are well-situated for next year even if a couple of those players suffer regress a little.