Welcome to the third edition of Mike’s Mailbag #MM here at HockeyBuzz. Adding a form to submit questions certainly helped to drive in some quality, and humorous, questions. Without saying much more, let’s get straight to the questions and answers.
Anon 1 Asks: With Tyler Johnson playing a good chunk of shorthanded minutes with Syracuse, are the Lightning brass perhaps influencing the farm coaching staff into grooming him for the 3rd line center/wing role for the 2013/2014 NHL season?
It’s no secret that the Lightning’s special teams were downright terrible last season. Given that the Bolts boasted the 26th best penalty killing unit in the league, it’s hard to argue that there isn’t a need for change. Based on what I’ve seen down in Syracuse, I’d have to agree with your assessment. Johnson brings a hard-working hustle to every PK shift that was greatly missed in the Lightning line-up next season. He’s good on the boards, he wins puck battles and he shows a lot of heart. The Lightning’s bottom six is a bit of a question mark right now, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see Johnson in a PK role next season.
Anon 2 Asks: When is the Lightning going to take that CHEESY looking lightning bolt off the sides of their hockey pants?
Not any time soon. I’ll give the team props, though. The new jersey that’s strictly blue and white looks really quite nice, in my opinion.
Ben-Avs Fan Asks: I haven`t been able to catch any Syracuse games but was able to watch the Calder Cup run last year and really wonder what the word on Panik is. He seems to have the skill set to be one of the top 6 forwards that`s a wrecking ball and scorer but can he do that consistently? Is he eventually going to replace Ryan Malone or is he bound for a role on the third line or perhaps another team, I'd take him on the Avalanche knowing what I know. Also aside from that, if it was a 48 game season how many does Stamkos Score, I'd take a bet of 50 if the odds were 3:1 or better?
Panik has been really impressive this season. Along with his innate ability to generate offense, he is also gifted with incredible speed for his size. His ability to use all of those factors has certainly contributed to his success with Syracuse this season. He does, indeed, remind me a lot of Ryan Malone. He’s never going to be a 60+ point guy, but he should be able to provide fairly consistent offense throughout his career. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Lightning give him a long look at next season’s full training camp. All that being said, Panik still has a little bit of work to do on the defensive side of his game. As with most young players, that just comes with time and practice.
On Stamkos: If we were to have a 48 game season, I don’t see any way that he hits 50. As good as he is, he’s not that kind of producer. It took him a while to get warmed up last season and, given the long off-season, more of the same would be expected in a shortened season. Personally, I think 28 is a reasonable expectation.
Dan Asks: Well, what DID you have for lunch then?
Just a pizza. Nothing overly exciting. It was a damn good pizza though. Sorry for getting your hopes up.
Nucker101 Asks: Who do you think is the most underrated and overrated player on the Lightning?
The most underrated, on a league-wide basis, is definitely Teddy Purcell. There’s a guy who was a nobody in Los Angeles and turned into a somebody here in Tampa. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves as one of the smartest playmakers in the Southeast Division. In addition, he’s also got a lethal wrist shot that confounded goalie after goalie last season. On a side, he’d look great in a Canucks jersey, but you can’t have him.
As for overrated: I’m going to have to go with Eric Brewer. Billed as one of our top two defenders, Brewer struggled mightily last season. He looked overworked (which he was) and underprepared for the bounty of defensive responsibilities bestowed on him. Now, I do like Brewer a lot, but in my opinion he’s not more than a #3 guy on a Stanley Cup winning team. His reputation was grossly inflated after the incredible playoff run he had two season ago, but he fell back down to earth last year.
Mark Asks: What do you think Devils can achieve IF there is a short season? Repeat of 95?
Simply put, no. The Devils were absolutely incredible in last year’s playoffs. In my opinion, they were the true definition of a team. It wasn’t one guy that lifted the group; it was the group that lifted each individual. Players really stepped up at key times to bring the Devils right to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, losing Parise will hurt the Devils a lot. Add to that the fact that Martin Brodeur is another year older and it doesn’t look great for the Devils. I wouldn’t put money on them making the playoffs if we have a shortened season.
John K Asks: Do you think the Lightning goalie situation is in trouble for years to come? Or is Lindback a viable option? How would you fix it?
Lindback certainly has the potential to be a long-term solution for the Bolts, but at this point we still don’t really know what we have. He’s played well in Finland, but even then, do we really know what we’re getting? The answer is no. The Lightning continues to say that they will ease him into a starting role, but the reality is that he’s on a two-year contract. That’s not a ton of time to make a decision on a guy without giving him a TON of opportunities to play. My feeling is that we’ll see a lot of Lindback if we have a shortened season; the Lightning needs to get to know him as both a player and a person.
Long-term, if Lindback doesn’t work out, the Lightning has a bunch of options to play with. With Tokarski and Helenius in the minors right now, the Bolts have two young goaltenders playing the pro-game in North America and learning how to win; all that said - they have struggled this season and don’t look anywhere close to being NHL ready.
In my opinion, the player to watch is certainly Andrei Vasilevski. He’s the guy for the Lightning in the long-term. He’s big, he’s agile and he’s got a pretty impressive resume for such a young guy. I know that Adam French has spoken about his talent level on a few occasions and said nothing but good things. However, it’s probably going to be 3-4 years before Vasilevski is ready for the NHL, so what does the Lightning do until then? Well, if Lindback works out, there’s your solution. If not, this team is in a little bit of trouble. Look forward to more of Mathieu Garon!
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There’s plenty more questions in the mailbag, so I’ll post another installment with more of your questions next week! Thanks everyone for your input and questions.
As always, thanks for reading.
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