The regular season and playoffs are now complete for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and so it is time to reflect on what can only be described as a very successful 2013-14 campaign. No, the team didn’t win the Stanley Cup. No, the team didn’t win a single playoff game. With that said, this Bolts group surprised a lot of people in the hockey world. There’s a lot for them to be proud of.
Following up on my last ratings blog, in which I graded the defensemen, I’ll be looking at the forwards in today’s piece. One quick housekeeping note: Only players who suited up for more than 20 games are included in the report card.
Alex Killorn – 82GP, 17G, 24A It’s hard for me to call a guy who scored 17 goals in his first full season an unsung hero, but I’m going to do exactly that. Alex Killorn was an incredibly effective player for the Lightning this season. While he didn’t get the press that guys like Palat and Johnson did, Killorn was able to cement himself in a top six role for a playoff team. That’s pretty impressive.
Not only that, but Killorn was also one of the Lightning’s better possession players all season long. He didn’t hurt the team when he was out on the ice; in fact, he helped the team more often than not. He’s not flashy, but he just does a lot of things well. If there was one issue with Killorn’s season it was offensive consistency.
Grade: A-
Tyler Johnson – 82GP, 24G, 26A Grading Johnson was pretty easy. This guy broke the franchise record for goals by a rookie. Who held the previous record? Steven Stamkos. If that alone doesn’t tell you enough about Johnson, I’m not sure what else could. The fact of the matter is that this player was incredible from start to finish in 2013-14. He started the year as a third line center and worked his way up to the top line as a result of his play and Stamkos’s injury. He never gave up that top six spot.
The former undrafted free agent signing continually proved to all 30 NHL teams that they made a mistake by passing on him in the draft. Yet another positive possession rookie, Johnson gave opposing players headaches with his blinding speed and killer instincts at both ends of the rink.
Grade: A+
Nate Thompson – 81GP, 9G, 7A There’s no doubting Thompson’s work ethic. He’s a guy who gives it his all on every shift of every game. That’s exactly why he’s an alternate captain for the Lightning. Over the course of 13-14, Thompson brought that workman-like effort to the rink and was rewarded with ample playing time for a bottom six center. Coach Cooper often had him playing in between budding offensive stars, which helped him generate his fair share of offensive opportunities. The problem for Thompson is that he was blessed with hands of stone. Effort isn’t always a substitute for the ability to finish plays.
Grade: B
Teddy Purcell – 81GP, 12G, 30A Purcell was paid like a top six forward. Purcell was played as a third line forward. And Purcell performed like a fourth line forward. It was a brutal year for the guy who wears number sixteen. While some will point to his possession stats as a reason to give him a decent grade, I’m not going to do that. Purcell was nearly invisible down the stretch.
It’s not exactly a coincidence that Purcell’s name is brought up whenever Lightning fans draft up trade proposals. The kicker is that nearly every one of those proposals includes the Lightning keeping some of the forward’s salary. That should tell you just about all you need to know about Purcell’s year.
Grade: D
Ondrej Palat – 81GP, 23G, 36A Your average hockey fan probably doesn’t think so, but there’s a solid argument to be made for Palat to win the Calder Trophy. From start to finish, and especially in the second half, the 2011 7th rounder was an incredibly effective player at both ends of the rink. It’s not often that a rookie jumps into the league and shows such poise in the defensive end as a penalty killer. It’s not often that a 7th round pick jumps into the league and tallies 59 points. Palat had a season for the ages.
Grade: A+
Valtteri Filppula – 75GP, 25G, 33A Remember when people were laughing at Steve Yzerman for signing Filppula to a contract worth $5MM per season? Those people aren’t laughing anymore. Filppula was arguably the league’s best free agent signing of 2013. Not only did he put up 25 goals and 58 points, but he was also a possession wizard. He served as a perfect complement to Steven Stamkos, and he anchored a second line that was consistently able to produce offense.
Grade: A
JT Brown – 63GP, 4G, 15A Brown’s speed helps him create a lot of offensive opportunities. Perhaps it was puck luck, or perhaps it was something else, but for whatever reason Brown wasn’t able to convert on his opportunities this season. With that said, the former college free agent did a lot of things right this year. Despite being an undersized forward, Brown solidified himself as a reliable third line presence. When the pucks finally start going in, Brown is going to be a very dangerous player.
Grade: B
Ryan Malone – 57GP, 5G, 10A On the ice, Bugsy was virtually unnoticeable. It didn’t take long for him to lose his spot in the Lightning’s top six, and from there it was all downhill. The reality of the situation is that Malone just isn’t fast enough to keep up with this young Lightning team. He was effective down low on the power play for short stretches of the year, but not nearly enough to warrant his inclusion in the lineup.
As if the on-ice performance (or lack thereof) wasn’t bad enough, Malone was also arrested for possession of cocaine and driving under the influence late in the year. I’d be willing to bet that Malone would like to forget all about his 2013-14.
Grade: F
BJ Crombeen – 55GP, 3G, 7A Give Crombeen credit for always sticking up for his teammates, but you’d probably have a tough time finding a fight that he actually won. There were certain times when he was able to do an effective job in limited minutes, but on the whole I thought it was a very ordinary campaign for number nineteen. His possession numbers are not good (read: astoundingly bad), and his role seemed to wither away as more and more young players proved able to handle the rigors of NHL play.
Grade: C-
Nikita Kucherov – 52GP, 9G, 9A After starting out red hot and scoring on his first NHL shift, Kucherov sort of cooled down as the season moved along. That resulted in him being a healthy scratch on more than one occasion, as Cooper and the coaching staff worked to make him a better player. Kucherov’s speed, like that of so many young Bolts, worked to his advantage on many occasions. He became known for creating breakaways on an unusually regular basis. Like JT Brown, though, Kucherov just couldn’t put the puck in the net. As he became more of a defensive liability, there just wasn’t enough offensive production pouring out to keep him in the lineup.
Grade: B-
Richard Panik – 50GP, 3G, 10A I watched every single Lightning game this year, but I’ll admit that I was surprised to see that Panik suited up in 50 of them. If I’m saying that about a young player with an offensive pedigree, it probably isn’t because he was lighting the lamp or playing good hockey. Panik had a rough year. He was relegated to fourth line duty early on, and he simply never gained enough confidence to do anything special. We saw flashes of brilliance in Syracuse, but it just wasn’t there at the NHL level.
Grade: D-
Steven Stamkos – 37GP, 25G, 15A If you asked most NHL players whether they’d be happy with a twenty-five goal season or not, most would undoubtedly say yes. Stamkos hit 25 goals this year… in 37 games played. After breaking his leg in mid-November, Stamkos returned late in the season and played some very good hockey. That he was able to come back from a broken leg and play hockey only months later was nothing short of a miracle. While Stamkos did admit that the injury proved to be a hindrance even as he started playing again, it’s hard not to appreciate what he was able to accomplish in a year full of adversity.
His pre-injury stats were off the charts, and his post-injury stats were very impressive considering the circumstances.
Grade: A+
Tom Pyatt – 27GP, 3G, 4A For a guy who was slotted into the lineup on very rare occasions, Tom Pyatt did a decent enough job. Nobody is going to deny that he was outplayed by the young players who suited up instead of him (see his dreadful possession numbers as evidence of that), but Pyatt did manage to make a positive impact on more than one occasion when in the lineup. His speed allowed him to keep up with the young crop of Bolts when a guy like Ryan Malone couldn’t
Grade: C
Ryan Callahan – 20GP, 6G, 5A When the Bolts traded their captain, Marty St. Louis, to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ryan Callahan, most people expected that Tampa was getting a hardworking player with some offensive instincts. What Tampa ended up receiving was so much more than that. Callahan quickly established himself as a fan favorite, largely because he played with such emotion and passion on each and every single shift. When the team needed a big hit, Callahan was there. When a last minute block was needed, Callahan was there. He chipped in timely offense and did all the little things needed to win in the NHL.
Because of all that, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when both Jon Cooper and Steve Yzerman announced their strong desire to re-sign Callahan and keep him in Tampa. This is a player who brings something special to the Lightning lineup.
Grade: A
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And so ends this year’s report card series. Let me know your thoughts on the grades in the comments section. As always, thanks for reading.