It’s no secret the Tampa Bay Lightning are an active model for the current rendition of the Leafs. Each time the team failed and the idea of breaking up the core came up, the Lightning and their journey is always mentioned (ignoring the fact they’ve won rounds in the past).
“They had great regular seasons and flamed out in the playoffs before.”
“The Columbus Blue Jackets swept them.”
“They’ve struggled to try to find that next gear.”
“They kept the core together.”
The 2013-14 season was the beginning of the Nikita Kucherov years which saw the Lightning eliminated in the first round.