For the last 20 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 21st annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Alex Killorn, Ross Colton, Corey Perry, Ian Cole, Pat Maroon, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Rudolfs Balcers, Brian Elliott

Incoming – Conor Sheary, Logan Brown, Luke Glendening, Josh Archibald, Calvin de Haan, Jonas Johansson

Impact of changes – As should be expected for a team that has won recent Stanley Cups, the Lightning have had a net loss of talent again this offseason because of the salary cap. In fact, this might be the season that the Lightning fall out of contending status – maybe even out of the playoffs entirely in an Atlantic Division that consists mainly of contenders and teams on the rise.  

The most significant loss will be Killorn, who scored at least 25 goals in three of the past four seasons, usually filling a top-6 role while sometimes appearing on the first-unit power play. None of the incoming players should be expected to replace that kind of production. In addition, Cole averaged the third-highest average minutes among Bolts blueliners last season. His departure means that at least one of a group of other depth defensemen will need to step up into a top-4 role, whether they are capable of it or not. This has been a growing problem for the Lightning, which could make life even more difficult for Andrei Vasilevskiy over the coming seasons.

Ready for Full Time – Because the Lightning have been buyers in recent seasons while they took advantage of their Stanley Cup window, their prospect base is one of the thinnest in the league. Needless to say, don't expect potential high-impact players from a fantasy perspective here.

The prospect most likely to make the team this season in Gabriel Fortier, who was a late second-round pick in 2018. Fortier has played much of the past three seasons in the AHL, where he has posted numbers that suggest that he will not be a scoring threat at the NHL level. He might crack the team simply because he will no longer be exempt from waivers. If that is the case, don't expect him to be fantasy-relevant this season – if at all. He has a physical side to his game, so he could hold a bit of value in leagues that count hits.

Did we say that the Bolts are light on prospects? Because of this, we're throwing a 27-year-old and a 26-year-old into this section. Darren Raddysh (27) played in just 17 regular-season games in 2022-23, averaging 16:29 of icetime in those games. Yet during the playoffs, that icetime increased to 25:13 per game. Sure, there were three overtime games in the six-game series with Toronto, but Raddysh did not play less than 22 minutes in any of the six games while being paired with Mikhail Sergachev. Perhaps he is that d-man who steps into a top-4 role.

Meanwhile, this is truly now or never for Alex Barre-Boulet (26). With 84 points in 69 games, he has proven he can dominate the AHL. However, he has only been trusted to play 32 NHL games combined over the past three seasons. He needs to play on a scoring line to secure an NHL position. Check his usage and availability if an injury happens to one of the Lightning's key scorers.   

Fantasy Outlook – Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point are mostly known quantities at this point, so there isn't much need to expand on them here. However, will Brandon Hagel continue to build on his success after a career-high 64 points in 2022-23? The Lightning have proven that they are serious about Hagel, signing him to an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value of $6.5 million starting in 2024-25. Hagel has proven throughout his career that he is much more of a fantasy asset when he is lined up with his team's top scorers, dating back to his days in Chicago. His new contract should solidify that place in the lineup. 

Another fantasy player of interest on the Lightning is Tanner Jeannot because of his bangers league value. After reaching 24 goals and 41 points in his first full season (2021-22), Jeannot was held to just 18 points in 2022-23. The Lightning coughed up five draft picks for Jeannot, so they are serious about him playing a key role for them. In spite of the lack of scoring last season, Jeannot racked up over 100 PIM for the second consecutive season and nearly reached 300 hits for the second consecutive season. A return to 20 goals and 40 points isn't out of the question, which would do wonders for his value in multicategory leagues.

One more key question for the Lightning is whether veteran Victor Hedman or the younger Mikhail Sergachev will be on the first-unit power-play. Sergachev was in that spot at times during the regular season and also during the Bolts' brief six-game playoff run. Sergachev was much more effective during his power-play time (27 PPP) than Hedman (14 PPP), with the total time over the full season being fairly even. As a result, this looks like Sergachev's time to shine.

Fantasy Grade – B+ (last year was an A-)

Check out the rest of the Dobber team previews here.