The Lightning played most of the season without star center Steven Stamkos and nearly snuck into the playoffs with a late season run with Nikita Kucherov scoring 40 goals and Victor Hedman registering a career-high 72 points.
Tampa has been the beneficiary of a well-stocked organization under GM Steve Yzerman, but a number of players in need of new contracts and cannot protect the entire core group that got to a Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and Eastern Conference Final in 2016.
Yzerman did not hesitate to make moves at the trade deadline, shipping out the expiring contracts of Brian Boyle and Ben Bishop and moving center Valtteri Filppula.