Our own Alex Drain sets the stage for the Tampa Bay Lightning entering the 2023-24 season:
Nowhere has the NHL salary cap worked better to crush 1970s/80s style dynasties than in Tampa, where the once-unstoppable Lightning squad that won consecutive Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 has steadily been drained of talent due to the cap purge. First, it was their checking line with Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman. It was then defensive stalwart Ryan McDonagh and savvy winger Ondrej Palat. Now, this past offseason, it was the hard-nosed Alex Killorn, the steady Ian Cole, and power-play specialist Corey Perry.