Tampa Bay Lightning: 3 bold predictions for 2022-23 NHL season

Tampa Bay Lightning are Stanley Cup contenders for the upcoming 2022-23 NHL season. Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are key players.

Tampa Bay Lightning are third-oldest team in the NHL with an average age of 29.23. They are not getting younger. The team is unlikely to have two 100-point scorers in 2022-23 NHL season. Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov are the only players who are older than 29 years old. They should be able to score 100 points in coming season, especially with Ondrej Palat gone.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished fifth in the Vezina Trophy voting last season. He was outstanding in both the first and second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vasilievskiy lost the conference finals against the Colorado Avalanche. He is a premiere, elite, top-of-the-line netminder. Tampa Bay Lightning would love to sign him.

Tampa Bay Lightning are two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. They will meet the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL Finals. The Avs are widely considered the best team in NHL.  The Av’s were dominant last season and in Stanley Cups playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning lost to a team that Cooper describes as a "baller team".