Tampa Bay 2015/2016 Summary and Off-season outlook 2016-05-31 With the EHE playoffs nearing an end, it is time to look into what happened this year for the Tampa Bay Lightning and what there is to look forward too. First, the not so good stuff, GM Hill came into the year thinking that his Lightning team would compete for a playoff spot. After missing the playoffs by 3 points in the first EHE season, the signing of all-star goaltender, Antti Niemi to a monster contract, the thought was that he would push them over that edge and into one of the last couple spot for the playoffs. Clearly this did not happen despite an All-Star worthy season by Niemi. Perhaps the largest issue for the team going into this past season was upgrading the defensive depth. The Lightning’s defensive depth could be described as putrid until GM Hill made a few trades to help in that department. Again the belief was that improving the defense would give them that push to get into the playoffs. In a trio of deals over a couple of days, GM Hill acquiring the ancient Chris Phillips, rugged Erik Gudbranson, and solid top 4 offensive defensemen in Ryan Ellis. Add those guys to a group already headed by Alex Pietrangelo and T.J. Brodie along with support from John Moore, and Lightning fans were excited to finally taste what playoff hockey tastes like. Again though, only disappointment loomed for the young team and its fans. Clearly the issue wasn’t goaltending, or even the defensive group, so that leaves just the offence left, which I believe was the biggest issue of all. When a team is lead by 3rd line center, Cody Eakin in points (64 points) then clearly there is an issue there. While having Eakin put up a monster year is great news, it’s not great news when no one else matches his production. Young Filip Forsberg put up solid numbers with 21 goals and 58 points but the rest of the team all underachieved which often had the Lightning losing games because they could not score a goal. Brandan Gallagher ended up with only 44 points, Kadri with 34 points, and Bjugstad with only 20 points; much more was expected from those guys to help propel this team into the playoffs. One of the few positives from this past year could be the play of the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, Syracuse Crunch. Making it to the second round of the playoffs gave Tampa fans something to cheer about. Guys like Duclair, Dano, Ouellet, Percy, Carr and Khoklachev all showed promise and hope that they can compete for a roster spot as early as next year. Not to mention Mike Matheson, who should be joining the club next year. The next most important thing for the franchise will be the EHE entry draft. With the 9th overall pick as well as three 2nd round picks and three 5th round picks, GM Hill should be able to acquire some solid youth to help stock up the prospect pool. A skilled forward will be wanted in the 1st round with rumours swirling that GM Hill has liked what he has seen from a few of the highly skilled forwards that should be available in this range.