| Christopher Reina. 8th April, 2008 - 7:41 pm
 Payroll: $38.95 million
Record: 31-42-9 (71 points)
Cost per point: $549,000
GFA: 2.70 (16th)
GAA: 3.24 (29th)
GDIF: -0.55 (28th)
The Tampa Bay Lightning finished tied with the Los Angeles Kings for a league-low 71 points, but since they had fewer wins, they won the tiebreaker and then the lottery and are the future home of Steven Stamkos. Stamkos figures to be yet another great young star of the NHL and will hopefully mean as much to the franchise as Vincent Lecavalier did when he was selected first overall in 1998.
Defenseman Drew Doughty of the Guelph Storm would help them on the blue line, but Stamkos is a franchise-changing talent that would be nearly impossible to pass up.
With the season essentially lost, General Manager Jay Feaster dealt Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist to Dallas for Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen, and a pick. This broke up the big three of Richards, Lecavalier, and Martin St. Louis, who no longer could carry a supremely average supporting cast that has been poorly pieced together from their below average scouting and drafting.
They also dealt Vaclav Prospal to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Alexandre Picard and a conditional draft pick.
The Lightning were an atrocious late-game team this season. They didn't record a single victory when trailing after two periods, but the biggest story was goaltending as the team had an NHL-worst .885 save percentage.
The Ice Impact Counter is an objective statistical formula created by RealGM to examine productivity on the ice, and the Reina Value uses an IIC ranking in order to quickly valuate how players are performing in relation to their contracts.
Click here for more information about the IIC and the Reina Value
Player - IIC - Rank - Reina Value
- Vincent Lecavalier, 104 IIC, 73rd, -41% RV
Lecavalier's season ended with a shoulder and wrist surgery, the fitting end of a difficult season for the Lightning. He scored 40 goals and had 92 points, both of which led the club, and he was sixth in the NHL. His -17 was the lowest total since the 01-02 season, and his shot percentage dropped from 15.3 to 12.6. He did have seven game-winning goals and overall was about as good as he's always been.
- Martin St. Louis, 99 IIC, 81st, -32% RV
St. Louis had 83 points, down from his 102 in 06-07. His assists stayed about the same (59 to 58), but he scored 18 fewer goals (43 to 25). His shot percentage dropped from 15.8% to 10.4%, which contributed heavily to the goal drop. Not surprisingly, his +/- was -23, which is a differential of -30 from a year ago.
- Jeff Halpern, 54 IIC, 188th, +25% RV
Halpern scored 10 goals in 19 games for the Lightning, with an incredible 21.7 shot percentage. His 42 total points for the season was his highest total since 05-06 as a member of the Capitals.
- Michel Ouellet, 51 IIC, 198th, +104% RV
The right winger Ouellet led the Lightning in +/- with 11 and had 36 points, down from his 48 a season ago in Pittsburgh, but a productive season nevertheless.
- Brad Richards, 45 IIC, 217th, -72% RV
Richards had one of his worst seasons of his career but is now in the playoffs with the Stars. He finished the season with 62 points, down from 70, 91, 79, and 74 in each of the past four seasons.
- Johan Holmqvist, 44 IIC, 223rd, +110% RV
Holmqvist had a 3.01 GAA and a .890 save percentage for the Lightning.
- Jussi Jokinen, 43 IIC, 229th, +19% RV
Jokinen also came over from Dallas but wasn't as successful in Tampa Bay as Halpern. He had a -16 in just 20 games for the Lightning. The left winger had 12 assists but just two goals on a 5.3 shot percentage.
- Paul Ranger, 42 IIC, 338th, +1,667% RV
Ranger scored 10 goals and picked up 21 assists, improving his shot percentage from 4.4 to 9.5. The young defenseman is coming along nicely for Tampa Bay.
- Filip Kuba, 42 IIC, 344th, -35% RV
Kuba had 25 assists (a career high), but his shot percentage dropped from 14.2 to 5.3.
- Dan Boyle, 21 IIC, 367th, -71% RV
Boyle played in just 37 games this season due to a horrific injury, but he was signed to a six-year extension in February.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the NHL Reina Value. |
