2016–17 Tampa Bay Lightning season

The 2016–17 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 25th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on December 16, 1991. Despite earning 94 points, the Lightning failed to qualify for the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs since 2013, ending their three-season playoff streak.

May
On May 25, 2016, the Lightning signed a one-year affiliation agreement with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. Kalamazoo will serve as the Lightning's primary ECHL affiliate starting with the 2016–17 season. Since 2009, the K-Wings have produced 11 players who have appeared in the NHL, which includes four players who made their debuts during the 2015–16.

On May 28, 2016, the Lightning's off-season began when they were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final in a 2–1 loss. The Penguins would go on to capture the Stanley Cup after defeating the Lightning in a seven-game series.

June
On June 6, 2016, information came out that assistant coach Steve Thomas was not returning next season. The Lightning decided not to renew his contract with the club. Thomas had been on Cooper's staff since the 2013–14 season and with the organization since 2010, when he served as a player development coordinator (2010–12).

On June 7, 2016, the Lightning announced it had hired Todd Richards. Richards was brought in as a replacement for outgoing assistant coach Steve Thomas. Richards joins Tampa with more than 400 games of head coaching experience with the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets.

On June 14, 2016, the Lightning announced it had signed associate coach Rick Bowness to a two-year contract extension. Bowness has been a member of the coaching staff since the 2013–14 season. Bowness is in charge of the defense and penalty kill, which ranked fifth in the NHL in 2015–16. Bowness also surpassed the 2,000-game mark last season. The Lightning also announced today its annual development cam will be held June 28–July 2 at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum. The camp will have some of the Lightning's top prospects competing on- and off-ice workouts, skating drills and will culminate with the annual three-on-three tournament. The team will release the full schedule and roster at a future date.

On June 21, 2016, the Lightning announced Ryan Callahan had surgery to repair a labral tear is his right hip. Callahan was expected to be out for at least five months. Callahan was dealing with the injury from the end of the 2015–16 regular season and throughout the playoffs as the Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Final. Callahan will also not be participating in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.

On June 24, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of defenseman Luke Witkowski to a one-year, two-way contract. Witkowski played in four regular season games. Witkowski also made his Stanley Cup playoff debut, where he appeared in two games during the second round against the New York Islanders. Witkowski has played in 20 career NHL games, all with the Lightning over the past two seasons. He has also played in 199 career games in the American Hockey League (AHL), all with the Syracuse Crunch. The Lightning next announced it had signed J. T. Brown to a two-year contract extension. Brown played in 78 regular season games during the past season, recording 8 goals and 22 points. Brown was tied for third on the team with a +16 rating. Brown set career bests in games played, goals, points, plus/minus and penalty minutes last season. He also appeared in nine Stanley Cup playoff games, recording two assists and two penalty minutes. Brown has skated in 198 career NHL games, all with the Lightning over four seasons, registering 15 goals and 51 points. He also has skated in 37 playoff games, recording a goal and six points. In addition, the Lightning also announced the re-signing of Cedric Paquette to a two-year contract extension. Paquette appeared in 56 games with the team last season, registering 6 goals, 11 points and 51 penalty minutes. His 51 penalty minutes were good for fourth on the team during the regular season. He was also one of five Lightning players to score a shorthanded goal last season. Paquette also played in 17 Stanley Cup playoff games with the team, posting one assist and 24 penalty minutes. Paquette has played in 122 NHL games, all with the Lightning, over the past three seasons. During that span, he has recorded 18 goals and 31 points to go along with 102 penalty minutes.

On June 25, 2016, the Lightning traded Anthony DeAngelo to the Arizona Coyotes during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The Lightning acquired the 37th overall pick as a result of the trade. The Lightning used the pick to select defenseman Libor Hajek, whom the team considered to be a first-round talent. DeAngelo struggled to adjust during his first professional season with Syracuse. He was a –18 and a healthy scratch eight times during the season. DeAngelo's father, Lou, declined to say if he had requested a trade.

On June 27, 2016, the Lightning made qualifying offers to most of its remaining restricted free agents. The players that received qualifying offers were C Alex Killorn, RW Nikita Kucherov, C Vladislav Namestnikov, G Kristers Gudlevskis, D Nikita Nesterov, LW Tye McGinn and LW Yanni Gourde. On the same day, the Lightning announced the schedule and roster for the team's annual development camp, which will be held from June 28 through July 2 at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum. In attendance will be nine of the team's 10 draft picks from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The roster includes highly touted prospects Adam Erne (2nd Round, 2013), Brayden Point (3rd Round, 2014), Mitchell Stephens (2nd Round, 2015), and Dominik Masin (2nd Round, 2014). Of those in attendance, 26 were selected in the draft, six are invitees and one player was acquired via trade. In addition, the Lightning announced the hiring of Jeff Halpern as a Syracuse Crunch assistant coach. Halpern previously served as the Crunch's player development coach during the 2015–16 season. Halpern is a veteran of 976 NHL games, including 126 with the Lightning from 2007 to 2010. Over his 14 seasons in the NHL, the centerman recorded 152 goals and 221 assists. Along with Tampa Bay, he spent time with the Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers before finishing his career with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2014.

On June 28, 2016, the Lightning announced that it had re-signed forward Tye McGinn to a one-year, two-way contract. McGinn played in two games with the team last season. McGinn also appeared in 72 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season, scoring 20 goals and 44 points. He ranked third on the Crunch for points and goals. In addition, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Matt Taormina to a one-year, two-way contract. Taormina skated in three games with the Lighting last season. Taormina also skated in three Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2016. He also appeared in 61 games with the Crunch last season, recording 13 goals and 41 points. This ranked Taormina second among Crunch defensemen for points and led all defensemen for goals with 13.

On June 29, 2016, the Lightning announced that it had re-signed captain Steven Stamkos to an eight-year contract extension. Stamkos appeared in 77 regular season games with the team, recording 36 goals and 64 points. He ranked first in goals and was second in points. Stamkos is a four-time NHL All-Star. Stamkos has led the team in goals for six of the past seven seasons, which includes two seasons of 50 or more goals. Stamkos has won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy on two occasions, which included setting a new franchise record for goals in a single season (60). Stamkos ranks third on the franchise's all-time scoring list for goals (312) and points (562). Stamkos ranks second all-time for power play goals with 108. Stamkos also has eight career hat tricks, which is tied for first with Martin St. Louis in team history.

On June 30, 2016, the Lightning placed defenseman Matt Carle on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out the remainder of his contract. Carle was the Lightning's highest paid defenseman last season at $5.5 million, but he had a declining role. He was often a healthy scratch, which included game 7 of the Easter Conference Final. His buyout will save the team $3.67 million off the cap the next two seasons. The buyout will be spread over the next four seasons at $1.833 cap hit each season.

July
On July 1, 2016, the Lightning re-signed defenseman Victor Hedman to an eight-year contract extension. The deal was signed on the first day he was eligible for an extension, exactly one year from when he could have become an unrestricted free agent. Hedman will have a no-trade clause throughout the deal. Speaking on an extension Hedman said "For me, it was never a doubt. Staying in Tampa was my No. 1 priority."

The Lightning then announced the re-signing of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three-year contract extension. Vasilevskiy appeared in 24 games with the team last season, posting a record of 11–10–0 to go along with a 2.76 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He also had one shutout in his second season with the team. He also played in eight Stanley Cup playoff games in 2016, recording a record of 3–4 to go along with a 2.76 goals–against average and .925 save percentage.

Next the Lightning announced the signing of free agent forward Michael Bournival to a one-year, two-way contract. Bournival played in 20 games with the St. John's IceCaps last season after suffering an injury. Bournival has spent his entire professional career in the Montreal Canadiens organization. He has skated in 89 career NHL games with Montreal, recording 10 goals and 19 points.

Soon after the Lightning announced the signing of free agent forward Gabriel Dumont to a one-year, two-way contract. Dumont appeared in 71 games with the St. John's IceCaps last season, notching 19 goals and 49 points. He was second on the team for goals and was third for points. Dumont has also played in 18 career NHL games, all with the Canadiens, recording a goal and three points.

Next the Lightning free agent forward Jeremy Morin to a one-year, two-way contract. He played in 59 AHL games last season with the Rockford IceHogs, Toronto Marlies and San Jose Barracuda. He registered 16 goals and 42 points. He has also played in 82 career NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets, registering 10 goals and 22 points.

The Lightning announced the signing of free agent forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond to a one-year, two-way contract today. Leblond played in 52 games with the Albany Devils last season, recording a goal and six points. His 131 penalty minutes led the team. He has played in 41 career NHL games with the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins, recording three assists and 101 penalty minutes.

The Lightning announced the final signing of the day, which was prospect Dennis Yan. Yan was signed to a three-year entry-level contract. Yan played in 62 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes last season, recording 32 goals and 69 points. He was third on the team for goals and was fourth for points. Yan also played in 20 playoff games and recorded 10 goals and 15 points.

On July 2, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to a one-year, two-way contract. Gudlevskis played in 41 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season, posting a 16–12–8 record with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

On July 5, 2016, Alex Killorn and Vladislav Namestnikov filed for arbitration. If an agreement is not reached between the team and both players, then it will result in arbitration. The hearings are scheduled from July 20 through August 4.

On July 9, 2016, the Lightning announced the signing of forward Mike Halmo to a one-year, two-way contract. Last season, Halmo played in 74 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League. He recorded 22 goals and 41 points. He was second on the Sound Tigers in goals and third in points. Halmo has also played in 20 career NHL games, all with the New York Islanders, recording one goal and 32 penalty minutes.

On July 13, 2016, the Lightning announced the signing of forward Cory Conacher to a one-year, one-way contract. Conacher played for SC Bern in the Swiss-A during the 2015-16 season, recording a team best 22 goals and 52 points. Conacher also registered five goals and nine points in 14 points while helping Bern win the Swiss-A League championship. Prior to playing for Bern, Conacher skated in 141 career NHL games with three different teams over three seasons, recording 19 goals and 58 points. His best NHL season came while playing for the Lightning during the 2012-13 season. He recorded nine goals and 24 points in 35 games. However, he was subsequently traded to the Ottawa Senators with a fourth-draft pick for goaltender Ben Bishop.

On July 17, 2016, the Lightning announced the extension of forward Alex Killorn to a seven-year, $31 million contract. Last season Killorn appeared in 81 games with the team, recording 14 goals and 40 points. Killorn also skated in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games last year, where he scored five goals and 13 points. Killorn has spent his entire NHL career with the Lightning, scoring 53 goals and 138 points. Killorn's biggest impact has come during the playoffs, where he has recorded 33 points in 47 games.

On July 25, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Yanni Gourde to a one-year, two-way contract. Gourde appeared in two games last season, recording an assist and two penalty minutes. He also played in 65 games with the Syracuse Crunch, recording 14 goals and 44 points.

On July 26, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year contract extension. By signing Namestnikov to a deal, the Lightning avoided Friday's scheduled arbitration hearing. Namestnikov had a career year last year, scoring 14 goals and 35 points in 80 games. He also skated in 17 playoff games, recording a goal and three points while helping the club reach the Eastern Conference Final.

August
On August 10, 2016, the Lightning signed veteran defenseman James Wisniewski to a professional tryout agreement. Wisniewski played just 47 seconds of one game last season with the Carolina Hurricanes last season before suffering a torn left ACL, which caused him to miss the entire season. If healthy, Wisniewski is a solid offensive defenseman. Wisniewski could be a decent depth option if he has a good camp, or he will serve as a veteran in camp while several members of the Lightning compete in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

On August 31, 2016, the Lightning announced their 24-man roster for the upcoming 2016 prospect tournament, which is being held at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, Florida. The roster consists of primarily organizational draft picks, along with Daniel Walcott, acquired via trade, and two invitees. Of the 10 draft picks made in 2016, seven will take part in the tournament, including first round pick Brett Howden, and fellow forwards Boris Katchouk, Christopher Paquette, Taylor Raddysk, and Otto Somppi, as well as defenseman Libor Hajek and goaltender Conner Ingram. In addition, notable returning prospects taking part in the tournament are Adam Erne, Brayden Point, Dominik Masin, and Adam Wilcox. The tournament will run from September 17 through the 20th. The Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals will be the other teams participating in the tournament.

September
On September 15, 2016, the Lightning announced its training camp roster for the upcoming season. At the start of training camp, 12 players and head coach Jon Cooper will be away in Toronto participating in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Camp will officially open on Thursday, September 22 at Amalie Arena with testing. The first day on the ice for players is Friday September 23 at 8:30 a.m., with three practice groups named Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Richards. Most practices will be held at Amalie Arena and closed to the public. The exceptions are Fan Fest on September 25, October 3, 4 at Germain Arena in Estero, and October 10, 12 in Brandon. In addition to roster players and prospects, there will be 11 training camp invitees attending. The most notable of the group of invitees is veteran defenseman James Wisniewski. The other players are Alexandre Alain (Gatineau – QMJHL), Lane Scheidl (Kalamazoo – ECHL), Ryan Verbeek (Kingston – OHL), Adam Comrie (Reading – ECHL), Sean O'Rourke (Ferris State – WCHA, Kalamazoo – ECHL), Charlie Vasaturo (Kalamazoo – ECHL), Ben Wilson (Kalamazoo – ECHL), Mark Grametbauer (Blainville-Boisbriand – QMJHL), Joel Martin (Kalamazoo – ECHL), and Nicola Riopel (Rapid City – ECHL, Norfolk – ECHL).

On September 26, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Nikita Nesterov to a one-year contract worth $725,000. Nesterov appeared in 57 games this past season, recording three goals and nine points. He set career highs for games played, goals, assists, and points. He also appeared in nine 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff games, recording one assist and nine penalty minutes. Nesterov has appeared in 84 career NHL games over two seasons with the Lightning, recording five goals and 16 points. Nesterov has also appeared in 26 playoff games, recording a goal and seven points.

On September 28, 2016, the Lightning announced the reduction of their training camp roster by 22 players. Camp invitees Alexandre Alain, lane Scheidl, Ryan Verbeek, David Henley, Sean O'Rourke, Carlie Vasaturo, Ben Wilson, Mark Grametbauer, and Joel Martin were part of the initial roster cuts. Additionally, the majority of Lightning prospects eligible to return to junior hockey participating in training camp were returned to their respective teams. Some notable names from that group are Brett Howden, Mathieu Joseph, Dennis Yan, Libor Hajek, Matthew Spencer, and Conner Ingram. The Lightning also elected to send Bokondji Imama back to the Saint John Sea Dogs for an overage season in junior hockey. After the roster reduction, the Lightning now have 53 players remaining in their 2016 training camp.

October
On October 2, 2016, the Lightning announced the next round of roster reduction to their training camp roster. The lightning reduced their camp roster by 24 players, leaving 28 remaining as part of their 2016 training camp roster. Prospect Mitchell Stephens was return to his junior team, the Saginaw Spirit, as was Jonne Tammela to his junior team, the Peterborough Petes. The remaining players have been reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, which is beginning their training camp on October 4, 2016. Several lightning prospects were part of this group, such as Adam Erne, Matthew Peca, Tanner Richard, Jake Dotchin, Dominik Masin, and Adam Wilcox. In addition, defenseman James Wisniewski was released from his tryout agreement as part of the roster reduction.

On October 5, 2016, the NHL announced that the preseason game between the Lightning and the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on Thursday was postponed Wednesday because of the expected landfall of Hurricane Matthew in South Florida. Executive chairman Peter Luukko stated through the Panther's website that "while we are disappointed to announce the postponement of any event at the BB&T Center, the safety of our fans, staff and the people of South Florida is always our top priority." The Lightning were to finish the preseason against the Nashville Predators at Amalie Arena on Saturday. No information has been give on a possible makeup date before the start of the regular season.

On October 6, 2016, the Lightning announced that it will be retiring the number 26 worn by the franchise's all-time leading scorer, Martin St. Louis. St. Louis becomes the first player in Lightning history to have their jersey retire. St. Louis was signed as a free agent by the Lightning as a free agent on July 31, 2000. He currently ranks first in team history for points (953), assists (588), short-handed goals (28), game winning goals (64), hat tricks (8 - tied with Steven Stamkos), and power play points (300). He also ranks second in goals scored with 365, behind Vincent Lecavalier's 383 goals, and also second for games played with 972. The ceremony will take place on Friday, January 13, 2017, when the Lightning host John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena.

Later that day, the Lightning announced that goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis had been assigned to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. The Lightning now have 27 players remaining in the 2016 training camp.

On October 7, 2016, the Lightning placed defenseman Luke Witkowski and forward Gabriel Dumont on waivers. Both players will report to Syracuse if they clear waivers by noon the following day.

On October 10, 2016, the Lightning announced that veteran forward Erik Condra, along with Cory Conacher and Joel Vermin, were placed on waivers. Head coach Jon Cooper told the media to not read into the moves too much, and that it did not necessarily mean that all three players were being sent to Syracuse if they clear. There has been growing optimism from the team that restricted free agent wing Nikita Kucherov could be signed before Thursday's season opener which may require the team to free up salary cap. The three players being placed on waivers contains a salary cap component to it. Conacher's $575,000 would not count against the cap if he played in Syracuse, and only $300,000 of Condra's $1.25 million would count against the cap. It remains to be seen whether rookie forward Brayden Point makes the Lightning's opening night roster. The final roster has to be submitted to the NHL at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

On October 11, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Nikita Kucherov to a three-year contract worth an average of $4.766 million per season. Kucherov skated in 77 games last season, recording 30 goals and 66 points. He led the team in points and was second in assists (36) and goals. Kucherov set career highs in goals, points, power-play goals (9) and game-winning goals (4). He ranked second in shots (209) and power-play goals, while also leading the team with 19 multi-point games. Last season Kucherov also appeared in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games, recording 11 goals and 19 points. This led the team in both goals and points. Over the past two seasons he has scored 21 goals and 43 points in 43 playoff games. This is more playoff goals than any player over that period of time. In his career with the Lightning, Kucherov has skated in 211 games over three seasons, collecting 68 goals, 149 points, and a plus-50 rating.

On the same day, the Lightning announced that forwards Erik Condra, Cory Conacher, and Joel Vermin had been assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Additionally, the Lightning announced its regular season opening night roster. The surprise player in this group was twenty-year-old forward prospect Brayden Point. He had put in an impressive training camp, recording three preseason goals, and even earning the praise of Captain Steven Stamkos. Lightning General Manager, Steve Yzerman, stated that the team "felt like he's earned the right for us to give him a look right off the bat." Yzerman also noted that the decision to waive Conacher, Condra, and Vermin was partially based on salary cap constraints. The team carried 13 forwards including Ryan Callahan, who was still recovering from his June hip surgery and not yet cleared for contact. The forward group consisted of Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Jonathan Drouin, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Valtteri Filppula, Vladislav Namestnikov J.T. Brown, Cedric Paquette, Brian Boyle, Brayden Point, and Ryan Callahan. The defensemen were Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Andrej Sustr, Jason Garrison, Braydon Coburn, Nikita Nesterov, and Slater Koekkoek. The goalie tandem was the same as the previous season, which consisted of Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Preseason

 * Lightning score listed first;
 * Lightning score listed first;

Regular season

 * Lightning score listed first;
 * Lightning score listed first;

Player stats
Final

Skaters

 * Most assists and points in a single season by a defenseman

Goaltenders
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Tampa Bay. Stats reflect time with Tampa Bay only.

‡Traded from Tampa Bay mid-season.

Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Transactions
The Lightning have been involved in the following transactions during the 2016–17 season.

Draft picks
Below are the Tampa Bay Lightning' selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.


 * Draft notes


 * The Arizona Coyotes' second-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016 that sent Anthony DeAngelo to Arizona in exchange for this pick.
 * The Boston Bruins' second-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent Brett Connolly to Boston in exchange for a second-round pick in 2015 and this pick.
 * The Dallas Stars' seventh-round pick will go to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015 that sent Anaheim's seventh-round pick in 2015 to Edmonton in exchange for this pick.
 * Edmonton previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on July 5, 2013 that sent Shawn Horcoff to Dallas in exchange for Philip Larsen and this pick.