from Chris Krenn of TampaBayLightning.com,

With the Tampa Bay Lightning just past the halfway point of the 2022-23 regular season, Bolts general manager Julien BriseBois met with members of the media on Tuesday and offered his perspective on the first half of the year, the upcoming trade deadline and more.

Through 41 games this season, the Lightning's points percentage sat at .671. At the halfway point of last year, it was also .671. The year before that, it was .670, and the year prior, it was .656.

So, what does that tell BriseBois? It's obvious.

The team has been tremendously consistent. And in all three of those aforementioned seasons, the Bolts made it to the Stanley Cup Final.

"It tells me that we're just as much of a Stanley Cup contender this year as we were the last three years, and we shouldn't treat it any differently," BriseBois said. "We have an all-world goalie, some all-world 'D,' good depth at the 'D' position. Our center line is really strong. We've got scoring on the wings. Our elite players are having really good seasons. We have a really strong coaching staff.

"It's a veteran group that's done it before, so we know they can do it, because they've done it time and time again, both the players and the coaching staff."

BriseBois has been pleased with the first half of a season that has the Lightning sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division and tied for fifth in the NHL in points percentage.

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