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The offseason, for any sport, is all about taking the necessary actions to improve your team for the following season. This always involves taking a look at the current makeup of the franchise and deciding which areas need an upgrade.

For the Tampa Bay Lightning, the area that needed the most improvement was defense. It was no big secret that Steve Yzerman and the rest of the Bolts' front office would look to shake up the team's blueline with the hope of getting this team back into Stanley Cup contention next season.

So, as expected, the Lightning made some moves to build a stronger defense for not only next season but the future as well. First, they acquired highly regarded prospect, Mikhail Sergachev, from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jonathan Drouin. The verdict is still out on Sergachev but all signs point to him being an impact player on the blueline. Second, the Lightning paid a hefty price to ensure that the Vegas Golden Knights selected Jason Garrison in the expansion draft. Finally, Yzerman signed veteran defenseman, Dan Girardi, to a two-year $6 million contract.

These moves, along with the re-signing of Jake Dotchin, Slater Koekkoek, and Andrej Sustr, have provided the team with eight NHL-caliber defensemen. Although you can never have enough depth, the Lightning now find themselves in the midst of another dilemma. Who are going to be the six men tasked with manning Tampa's blueline night in and night out?

Before the Girardi signing, the answer was quite simple. You bring out the three established guys, Hedman, Stralman, and Coburn, and pair them with the three youngsters, Dotchin, Koekkoek, and Sergachev. Then, you have Sustr be the seventh defensemen. Now that Girardi is on the roster, things have gotten a lot more complicated. In my opinion, he doesn't get brought in unless the Lightning plan on playing him every night. This means that he is going to take up a spot that could go to one of the "kids". Most likely, this will leave Sergachev as the odd man out.

The Lightning are going to want to see what they have in Dotchin and Koekkoek this season. Both men have paid their dues and now get to prove that they belong in the NHL. It has been said countless times that people think Sergachev is NHL ready but I do not see where he will fit in on this roster. He is continuing to develop his skills and needs to continue playing with regularity. If the Lightning carry eight defensemen, Sergachev's playing time could be limited. Unfortunately, this may mean that the best option for him is to spend one more year in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires.

This still makes the state of the Lightning's defense a mess (a bit dramatic, I know), just in a different way. Girardi does not make this unit better. He is on a serious decline and is not expected to have much of a resurgence. I would much rather see the young kids get their time to shine. Yes, the outcome may be a little more uncertain this way but at least the result could be much more rewarding.

There is still time for Steve Yzerman to continue tinkering with his roster but all of the big moves are most likely complete. It will be interesting how all of this gets sorted out come the fall.

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