from Damien Cox at the Toronto Sun,

The Lightning lost an entire forward line: Barclay Goodrow was traded and Blake Coleman lost through free agency, while Yanni Gourde went to Seattle in the expansion draft. Another key forward, Tyler Johnson, was dealt to Chicago. Defenceman David Savard, briefly a member of the Bolts, was also lost as a free agent.

Out of 18 skaters from that final victory over the upstart Montreal Canadiens in the Cup final, they lost five players who contributed not only goals and assists but experience and grit.

As it turned out, Cooper was right. The team that won it all wasn’t going to stay together. But the natural extension that the team wouldn’t be as good hasn’t proven to be correct at all.

Indeed, as the Lightning prepare to play their first-ever outdoor game on Saturday at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium — that Tampa hasn’t been given this kind of added profile before under the Gary Bettman administration, while 26 other teams have, does seem puzzling and even disrespectful — it seems clear they haven’t taken a step backward at all.

Yes, there are teams with better records — including Florida, Carolina and Colorado. But given how well Cooper’s team played in amassing 72 points in its opening 50 games, if a playoff series started tomorrow between Tampa and any of the Panthers, Hurricanes or Avalanche, the Bolts would still be solid favourites.

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