Each NHL team’s biggest burning question in 2018

Tampa Bay Lightning: They’re nothing short of loaded, but is this their year?

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of the NHL’s most depth-ridden franchises. Composed of some of the league’s best top-end talent in Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman and Vezina contender Andrei Vasilevskiy, the team is one of the sport’s most intimidating forces — combining offensive clinicality with defensive accountability on any given night.

What separates the Bolts from other Stanley Cup contenders, however, is the expansive nature of the club’s positional complexity.

Stamkos and Kucherov will almost always lead the charge, yes — but the likes of J.T. Miller, Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde and Ondrej Palat provide an offensive edge that is difficult for even hockey’s most storied organizations to match. In their own end, the team is sound: Hedman is, without question, one of the best defensemen to take the sport by storm in recent years, while Ryan McDonagh, Anton Stralman and Mikhail Sergachev form the basis of one of hockey’s top supporting casts. But the real MVP lies between the pipes: Vasilevskiy has not only proven that the Bolts made the right decision in opting to keep him over Ben Bishop, but the breadth of his workload is further reflective of an ever-apparent reality: as long as their franchise netminder is around, the Lightning can remain in the running for Lord Staley’s trophy.

And so emerges a question that will come to define the 2018-19 campaign. The Bolts are one of the NHL’s most intimidating contenders, but is this actually their year?

Expect Stamkos & Co. to look northward in their search for postseason inspiration. Alexander Ovechkin may have finally managed to silence his doubters, but just a matter of months ago, he was labelled a playoff bust. As the Capitals’ most recent run shows, reputations can be reconceptualized when a team is enveloped by the promising spirit of winning ways.