Last week, Craig Custance of The Athletic charted how many times certain teams were called “Cup contenders” since 2008. The Tampa Bay Lightning showed up five times since 2008, and Custance had some interesting words to say about this:
7. Teams labeled Stanley Cup contenders as often as the Tampa Bay Lightning typically win one. In four of the past five seasons, they were identified as Cup contenders, and the Sharks are the only team to have the same kind of success and not win it all. Despite the Lightning’s first-round disaster this spring, I’d have a real hard time picking against Tampa this coming season.