from Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune,

This is the team Stevie Y built, a team that has withstood the departures of the two biggest faces in Lightning history, Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis — and lived to talk about it. Yzerman’s credibility and calm helped pull it off. That and winning.

The team that Stevie Y built led the NHL in scoring this season. It’s chocked with young talent, augmented by veteran acquisitions, and a trade Yzerman pulled off a few years ago, when he decided that the kid Ben Bishop might be a keeper at goaltender.

Before the Triplets were ever born, they had to be tapped on the shoulder by Yzerman and his crew. There was Tyler Johnson, routinely undrafted, but signed as a free agent by the Bolts. And Ondrej Palat, taken in the seventh round in 2011, and Nikita Kucherov, a second-round pick in that same draft, skilled, but deemed a project. Now look.

This is the team that Stevie Y built, and tweaked to perfection last offseason: Anton Stralman and Jason Garrison to steady the defense, Brian Boyle for bedrock up front, Brenden Morrow for his playoff jam. During the season, Braydon Coburn, more help for the back line. And don’t forget Yzerman re-signing Ryan Callahan, who came over in the Marty trade, along with two first-round draft picks — Yzerman at his best, forgetting the noise in the system, quietly turning a loss into a win.

This is the team Stevie Y built, with all those able hands in the front office, like assistant GMs Julien BriseBois and Pat Verbeek, with advisor Tom Kurvers and scouting director Al Murray and the coaches in the room, led by Jon Cooper.

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