If there has been an overarching theme to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s recent stretch of post-Stanley Cup playoff appearances (aside from first-round exits), it’s been the lack of input from rookies. In fact, over the last three seasons, only 13 rookies have appeared in the line-up with only 8 of those players appearing in more than 10 games. The Bolts have leaned heavily on veteran players as they’ve desperately clung to their position as one of the better teams in the league.
Part of that has been due to the fact that they have, for the most part, had a pretty good rotation of players under long-term contract to fill top-nine roles on the team despite free agency whittling away their depth year after year.