Tampa Bay Mid-Season Review
- Updated: April 30, 2018
Just past the half-way point of the DHL year for the Bolts, and it has been a bumpy ride. A roster shake-up had to be made and some of the teams brights prospects were sent packing to bring in young core players such as Gaudreau, Trouba and Lindholm. The team has had it’s strong and weak points to start the year, it’s strongest and weakest points will be analyzed to explain how they got here.
Strong Points
#1-Young Skaters Leading The Way
While not the strongest core in the league, the youngest members of the core such as Huberdeau, Gaudreau, Lindholm and the newly acquired Trouba have all some of the biggest impacts on the teas success. Huberdeau with his 17 goals and 18 assits in 42 games, Gaudreau with 6 goals and 12 assists in 24 games and Lindholm with his 5 goals and 7 assists in 12 games have been the main players that have led the offence. Trouba has only suited up 4 times in a Bolts uniform but has contributed in his own end with a +/- of +2 and has a respectable 12 hits in those 4 games. These young players will only get better and so will the Bolts.
#2-Goaltending
Originally this point was just going to be about the play of Johnathan Quick but Lehner has rebounded strong after a rough start. When Lehner was struggling it looked like Tampa would be a lotto team again despite their improvements during the off-season. But Quick was able to grab the bull by the horns and put up Vezina caliber numbers(if he played more games) and was able to hold the fort for the Bolts. Lehner has looked more comfortable the past couple of games he’s started and has improved his numbers drastically. While Quick has put up elite numbers he won’t likely win the Vezina unless he plays a whole bucnh of games in a row and continues to put up those numbers, but that likely won’t be needed as Lehner is back on his game. Tampa’s goalies have been a major reason why they aren’t a lotto team.
#3-Responsible In Their End Of The Ice
While the goalies have been pretty good, you still need a good d-core to help the out. The Tampa’s defense brigade has been a big factor as to why they are 5th in the East. Led by team Captain Subban the defense has helped the team have the 3rd best GA/G stat of 2.16. With the supporting cast of Polak, Niskanen, Murphy, Scandella and Ceci the defense was a solid group, but the acquisition of Trouba has bolstered the group. With 7 capable d-men in Tampa, they have a deep group to choose from.
Weak Points
#1-James Neal
Jesus Christ has he been awful up to this point. 5 goals and 10 assists in 42 games for the teams top SC guy os unacceptable. Has been rotated between lines 1-3 this year but has spent most of year on the 1st and 2nd line with good passers like Huberdeau, Gaudreau, Lindholm and Spezza, it is a mystery why this guy has been complete garbage.
#2-Weak Start
While Tampa is very content at 5th in the East at this point in the year, they could’ve been higher in the standings if it wasn’t a weak 1-6-2 start. While Tampa has been 20-10-1 since than, they could be closer to the top 4 east teams if it wasn’t for that start.
#3-Lack Of All-Star Caliber Players
In a conference with a team like Toronto having guys like McDavid, Matthews, Hall, Letang and Anderson just to name a few of it’s better players, you better have a good amount of All-Stars yourself. While Subban, Huberdeau, Gaudreau, Trouba and Lehner are good, they aren’t quite on their level. And while Tampa has fared well thus far, a 7 game series against a team say like Toronto, wouldn’t look like it’d fare to well for them
Well that’s the Mid-Season review of the Bolts. Will they continue to play hot? Can they challenge for a top 4 seed in a competitive Eastern Conference? These questions will be answered as the season progresses to its later stages. One thing if for certain though, Tampa has established it won’t be a pushover team that is easy to beat as last years version was.
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