One of the more pleasant surprises of the 2016-17 regular season for the Tamp Bay Lightning was the former sixth-round pick, Jake Dotchin.
With the Bolts desperately requiring some assistance on a shaky blueline, Dotchin stepped up, playing on the top-pairing with Victor Hedman. Although Dotchin did not provide a goal in his 35 games with the Lightning this season, he did record 11 assists and was strong in his own end. In addition, he had solid possession numbers, meaning Tampa Bay was controlling the puck more times than not when he was on the ice.
Now that hockey is over in Tampa Bay, there have been a lot of questions regarding what Dotchin's role with the Lightning will be moving forward.
First and foremost, the Lightning need to re-sign him and hope he doesn't get snatched up by the Vegas Golden Knights. Dotchin is set to become a restricted free-agent this summer. Assuming Steve Yzerman brings him back, which is the correct move to make in my opinion, Dotchin will most likely be one of the players exposed in the expansion draft.
If all of the offseason mumbo-jumbo goes Tampa's way, I see Dotchin being part of the defensive unit for the Lightning next season. However, I think the team would feel more comfortable lessening his role. Yes, he showed he could play on the top pairing this season. However, I see him as more of a second or third pairing guy in 2017-18. This, of course, is assuming that the Bolts are able to make some improvements to the blueline this summer.
At the end of the day, I see Jake Dotchin as a reliable member of Tampa Bay's defense for not only the 2017-18 season but for the distant future. It will still be important that the Lightning find the "right" role for the 23-year-old, so he is in a position to continue his success.