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Locked On Lightning - Daily Podcast On The Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Preseason Primer
The Tampa Bay Lightning begin preseason today! Ahead of the preseason opener against Carolina, Locked on Lightning previews game one and discusses the Hart Trophy candidacy of star winger Nikita Kucherov. We also dive into Jake Guentzel ahead of his Lightning debut going against his former team.
- Duration:
- 32m
- Broadcast on:
- 24 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. For the first time since the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Tampa Biting are playing hockey again today. They open up the preseason against the Carolina Hurricanes and locked on lightning has some player profiles on two guys that will be crucial to the upcoming Tampa Bay Lightning season. Welcome to lockdown lightning. Your locked on lightning, your daily podcast on the Tampa Bay Lightning, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. Thank you for making locked on lightning your first listed every day. We are part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. My name is Josh Sperber, your host every day as we get into this preseason primer episode of locked on lightning. Before we get into the preseason, I want to talk about one of the players that is going to be crucial not only to the preseason game against the Carolina Hurricanes that starts at seven o'clock today, but I want to get into a player that I think is pretty easy consensus as the most crucial offensive player for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But that's not what we're here to debate here on locked on lightning. What I am going to ask is will Nikita Kucharov win his second heart memorial trophy. He played all 82 games of the 2018 and 2019 season took home the art Ross trophy and heart memorial trophy with 41 goals, 87 assists for what was then a career high 128 points. It was the first time that Kucharov led the NHL in points. Of course, the second time being this most recent season, 100 assists, 144 points and second on the team with 44 goals for the two times, Stanley Cup winning Nikita Kucharov. Now this year, he is going to continue to feature as an offensive force for the Tampa Bay Lightning, particularly once again with the departure of Stephen Stamkos. There's going to be more offensive responsibilities on the shoulders of Nikita Kucharov and he's going to have to step up as good a player as he is as well as he did last season. Nikita Kucharov is going to have to step up. That is something that really needs to happen with just about everybody when a key player like Stephen Stamkos leaves, plain and simple, you're going to need more production from more guys already existing on the team and Nikita Kucharov was the most productive offensive player in the NHL last year, plain and simple, 44 goals and 100 assists, got some votes for the heart memorial trophy and second art Ross Trophy dethroning Conor McDavid for the first time since 2020, the year after Nikita Kucharov won it the first time. Now he might lead the NHL in points once again, but I think he has his eyes on another trophy and that is the heart memorial trophy, the NHL's MVP that Kucharov also won in 2019, Conor McDavid is one, two out of the last four, of course Nathan McKinnon of the Avalanche won the heart trophy in 2024. Now I'm not going to guarantee Kucharov for any awards, but I do think he's going to have a case at the heart trophy, he had a great postseason, seven assists in five games against the Florida Panthers and he has been one of the most, if not the most, consistent offensive player since his introduction to the NHL over 10 years ago, it's going to be the 11th NHL season this year for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He broke into the league in 2013, nine goals and nine assists in 52 games since then he has not recorded lower than 65 points on an NHL season, his lowest coming at 65 in his first full year in 2014 and 2015. Now 10 years later, McKinnon Kucharov has a much bigger role on the Tampa Bay Lightning's offense as the assistant captain A on his jersey and the former second round pick has really now turned into the focal point of the Tampa Bay Lightning offense. Of course, his assists really popped out last year, but can he put it all together for another MVP season? In his last MVP season, 128 points, 87 assists, 41 goals. He topped both of those numbers this year, setting career highs with 44 goals tied per second on the Lightning and 100 assists leading the entire NHL in this last season. If any Lightning player is going to win a big award, it's going to be the Kucharov, I think the Art Ross trophy is certainly something that is in view for Nikita Kucharov, because I think he needs to have a huge season for the Tampa Bay Lightning to have success. The big theme of the podcast since I joined last week has kind of been moving on from Stamco's. We've talked about some of the new faces coming in there. We're going to get some good minutes, but roles on the team are still kind of in jeopardy. I mean, the old Nikita Kucharov is one of the few returners, two returners on the first line. Him and Braden Point, the leader in goals and assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning both coming back this year. And I talked about how Braden Point, I think, needs a breakout season, but that's more for Nikita Kucharov's benefit. He needs another complimentary player, like a Stephen Stamco's, to step up and take some of that mantle, take some of that pressure off of him in the offensive zone. So Kucharov can get a better view of the ice and make some plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He's the point guard, he's the quarterback. He is the guy who the Lightning want to put the pot on the stick of as many times as possible in this upcoming season. So Nikita Kucharov, it is very clear that he is going to play a key role in the Tampa Bay Lightning attack, but will he be the heart trophy winner? Will he be voted the most valuable player in the NHL? And obviously that is maybe the most wide open award in the NHL season because you really never know what you're going to get year after year. You obviously have some of the favorites, Nathan McKinnon, Conor McDavid, the last two winners. Those are guys that you're going to have to look at Sebastian Ajo of the Carolina hurricane, just someone who could certainly make a play for it. We'll talk about him in the next segment because it's going to be Carolina who the Lightning will play to start off their preseason. But I think Nikita Kucharov, if the Lightning want to make a deep run in the postseason, maybe even get back to the postseason because with some of the key losses for the Lightning and with really the influx of a lot of players who don't have that much NHL experience, for the first time in the last, I mean longer than I can even remember, maybe even in the last decade or so, the Tampa Bay Lightning certainly aren't guaranteed an NHL playoff spot. That sounds kind of favoring because, you know, obviously as a Lightning fan, I want to think the Lightning are going to be in the playoffs year in and year out. But this year, that's certainly going to be in contention. You've got a lot of new players, JJ Moser, a guy who is new with the Lightning, expected to be on the first line. Jake Genssel is taking the place of Steve Stamkos and if you look at his stats, he's been solid in his NHL career, but comparing his numbers to Steve Stamkos, they're just two different players. I mean, Stamkos is going to be a Hall of Famer. He's a hard guy to replace. I don't know if Genssel in his first season with the Lightning is going to be the guy that completely takes up the mantle. Again, we're going to talk about him later in the episode because he's starting off his preseason, it's his new team. Nikita Kucharov is still going to be the key player on the Lightning. I think he is definitely going to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning in this season. On the last episode, we talked about the Lightning power play, how that is going to be shaping up and, you know, it's, it could be Nikita Kucharov that takes the mantle of Stamkos and gets some of those extra power play goals that Stammer was so good at getting for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But he also has, again, that field general role, that point guard role. Jeff Halper, the assistant coach who runs the power play for the Lightning, was talking about Nikita Kucharov's ability to shoot it on the power play, but also his vision on the ice and his ability to pick out his teammates. So whether he's passing the buck puck or shooting it himself, he is going to get big numbers for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. And I think there is certainly a chance that he can finish this 2024/2025 season with his second heart trophy. I think we'll have another all-star season for Nikita Kucharov. And if I'm going to pick the heart trophy winner, I might be picking Nikita Kucharov right now because if the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to play at the level that they have played at in the last couple of seasons, if they're going to get back to the postseason, if they're going to maybe even challenge for the division lead in one of the tougher divisions in the entire NHL. Nikita Kucharov has to step up. And I'm not saying that he had a bad season, he needs to approve on some of his numbers. He has to be the guy for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. So I think the Lightning's success is in some way tied to Nikita Kucharov, and he is going to be one of the finalists for that heart trophy this season. He might even win the Art Ross Trophy for a second straight season and the third time. But Nikita Kucharov is a guy who needs to have a huge season for the Tampa Bay Lightning if they are going to have success in 2024 and 2025. We're going to take a quick break here from lockdown Lightning. Coming up next, we're going to get right into this new season. Not just the individual players, but we'll pre-view the preseason opener against the Carolina Hurricanes right after a word from our sponsors. Want to play prize picks along Jean-Ie Druski, Joe Brudden, an MMA champ, Sugar Sean O'Malley? You can now find community plays under the promo tabs of the app to view entries from some of the biggest names in the prize picks community every week. Prize picks is the only real money daily fantasy platform with an injury insurance policy so that your lineup stay in play even if one of your players gets injured. If your player leaves in the first half and doesn't return, your picks are still live. You can download prize picks today and use the code LoctonNHL to get off $50, $50 instantly. When you play just $5, that's code LoctonNHL on prize picks to get $50, instantly, when you play just $5, $0, $5. You don't even need a win to receive a $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. Prize picks. Run your game. Josh Berber back here with Locton Lightning and we're going to get into the pre-season preview. I'm realizing now red might have been the wrong color to where today but the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning are getting together their first and only pre-season match-up of the 2020, or sorry, first of two pre-season match-ups of the 2024 season. The Lightning will travel to Carolina on Friday, October 4th but today, Tuesday, September 24th. The Lightning hosts the Carolina Hurricanes in their pre-season opener. It is a match-up that has been featured a couple times in the last two pre-season. Last year in the pre-season, the Lightning split the two games with the Carolina Hurricanes in Carolina following 5-2 in Tampa Bay winning for nothing and Tampa Bay took two of the three match-ups against the Carolina Hurricanes, all of which came in the first half of the season in 2023 last year. Two of the three games were shutouts, a 4-0 win for the Hurricanes in Tampa, but Tampa also won 3-0 in the first game between the two sides last year at Emily Arena and in Carolina, the Lightning took it to the Hurricanes with an 8-2 victory. So the Lightning, I think, need a good start on the pre-season, obviously you want to get a win but these pre-season games aren't as much about wins and losses. They are just as much about developing some of the players tinkering with some of the lines and really just kind of getting the guys comfortable with each other. And I think for the Tampa Bay Lightning, that has to be the key component of this pre-season. You're going to get some tests of some of the young guys. You might see Connor Giki in the pre-season. He is certainly in the pre-season. He's certainly a guy that I'd like to see get on some NHL lines and get some pre-season action. So that's going to be important also, something we'll talk about in the next segment, Jay Gensil going up against his former team. He played 17 games for the Hurricanes last year and that could certainly be a benefit to the Tampa Bay Lightning as they start their pre-season campaign. But I think what's most important about this pre-season opener is the Lightning putting up a good fight because there are certainly some players on the Lightning or some fans I should say of the Lightning that are a lot less optimistic about the post Stephen and Stamp Coast era of the squad. So the last thing the Lightning are going to want to do in the regular season when that opens in a couple of weeks and in the pre-season when that game one starts tonight is just go up there and get embarrassed by a really solid Carolina Hurricanes team. And the Hurricanes 111 points second to just the New York Rangers in the entire Eastern Conference finishing second to the New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division and in the entire league only the Rangers and Dallas Stars had more points than the Carolina Hurricanes last season. Sebastian Ajo was their big player with 22 more points than anyone else on the team despite missing three games 36 goals 53 assists. He is going to be a big guy to watch Seth Jarvis to Votero Vainen really solid players on this Carolina Hurricanes team. And again the records aren't big in the pre-season. The Lightning might not even be favored in this matchup. Carolina took two games off the New York Rangers losing 4-2 in the second round of the playoffs last year. Lightning took just one game against the Florida Panthers in the Cup playoffs. So the Hurricanes were one of the better teams in the NHL in the regular season last year and a solid playoff showing as well but we'll see how they stack up against these Tampa Bay Lightning. You're going to get a good idea of the some of the lines and I'm curious to see JJ Moser playing on his offside. Coach John Cooper has talked about Moser playing on a different side because his regular side is the same side that I was occupied by Victor Hedman. The new Lightning captain he's not going to give everything up but Moser is still expected to be the first line defender with Victor Hedman for the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is going to be the first time that they're going to get real game action side by side. Jake Genssel is going to get his first taste of Lightning Hockey going up against his former team. That's something that we'll go to in the next segment but what are going to be the keys for the Tampa Bay Lightning in this pre-season matchup. For me defense is going to be what I am going to be watching very closely. That is something that all the coaches have really said that they've been focusing on in the pre-season practices in training camp trying to build a stronger defensive identity for this Tampa Bay Lightning as they kind of forge their new path on forward in this new era of Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey and that's going to start with defense. Ryan McDonough, Eric Sernack in line two is another line combination that I really want to watch for the Tampa Bay Lightning of course that was the line for those two players in the Stanley Cup run most recently McDonough and Sernack so getting them back together seeing how much of their chemistry they really need to recreate if even any and just kind of see what they can bring to the table in this upcoming season. It's going to be fun and of course the offense that first line Jay Gensil is something that I'm going to want to watch as well but I'm always a big fan of the goalies. Andre Bosalevsky missed most of the pre-season last year had some injuries to start the season and he has been very talking about how much healthier he is coming into this season. He's going to get the starting goal but of course there's going to be some rotation there in the pre-season. I'd like to see a Lightning victory to start off the year and I'd like to see the Lightning really treat this like a regular season game because you know they've got some good players I think though the Lightning in a lot of ways have been written off because of the departure of Stephen Samko's and I think even in the pre-season a victory a really solid showing some kind of good game from the Tampa Bay Lightning could be a start to proving wrong some of the doubters as they get ready for the regular season in the NHL I'm predicting a 3-2 game I want to say the Lightning are going to win. I think the Jake Genssel is going to be a pretty solid factor against the Carolina Hurricanes his former team in his Lightning debut in the pre-season. So we are going to take a break now before we get into the final segment more on the pre-season preview how is Jake Genssel going to do against his former team and how will this set the tone for his first full season as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning we'll be back with some thoughts on Jake Genssel's Lightning debut. Hey NFL fans you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel the number America's number one sportsbook when you get a hunch in the middle of the game you can check out the latest stats if you live play by play and more on the same page where you place your bets you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet sell a $5 bet you get $200 on fail that sounds like a great deal and that is FanDuel dot com. Our third and final segment of the episode of locked on Lightning indeed is one of our sponsors best place to find jobs Josh Sperber here and talking about one of the newest members of the Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Genssel a name that I'm sure you guys have heard quite a bit in this show in really anything that's talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning off season because as I've mentioned Jake Genssel is going to be tasked with a big task he is likely going to take Stephen Stamkos's place on the left wing to on the lightning's first line expected to be one of the crucial players in Tampa Bay's offensive attack in this upcoming season and I think that this first game is big a lot of people write off preseason because the games don't really count it's really just training in a lot of ways but a key component of preseason as I mentioned earlier is kind of testing out some of the new guys and seeing how they all gel together on the same ice and with a team with a lot of new faces like the Tampa Bay Lightning that is going to be very very important to watch and this is where it gets per it gets put to the test for the first time in this season for the first time with this new roster for the first time in the Victor Hedman captain era for the first time in the post Stephen Stamkos era I mean take your pick make no mistake this first preseason game is big for the Tampa Bay Lightning I'm very excited to see how their offense runs with Nikita Kucharov essentially as the captain of this Tampa Bay offense obviously Victor Hedman's the captain I know that but the offense is going to be what run through Nikita Kucharov this season we talked about that in the first segment but now we'll have to talk about some of the rest of the offense which is going to be Jake Genssel 17 games against the Carolina hurricane or 17 games against the Carolina hurricanes 17 or with the Carolina hurricane after he was a deadline deal from the Pittsburgh Panthers to Carolina average 17 minutes of ice time eight goals 17 to 6 with what is a career best plus minus of plus 16 finishing all of 2024 the career best of plus 25 on two teams was Jake Genssel in the postseason four goals five assists in last year's playoffs for the hurricanes as well so add that to the eight goals 17 assists you get 12 goals 22 assists in a grand total of 22 games or sorry 28 games for the Caroline hurricanes in both the regular season and the playoffs now Jake Genssel won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins he was a key player with a Getty Malkin and Sidney Crosby in his first NHL season now Genssel is a longtime NHL veteran he was a big part of the Penguins attack they offloaded him to make kind of a rebuilding deadline deal and he went to the Carolina hurricanes and players against their former teams is something that you know we see a lot in all sorts of sports mixed results there were some guys that really kind of know how their old team works and can use that to their advantage when playing for a different team in a new season and Jake Genssel has been gelling well with lightning squad the coaches have been saying nothing but complimentary things about one of the newest members of the Tampa Bay Lightning and this is the first time to see it against practice I mean you'll hear from any coach that going up against your own team versus going up against you know competition competition is is a different animal and we're going to see a bunch of new faces on the Lightning line Jake Genssel might be the one under the most pressure and I think that's absolutely the case he was not he was a pretty monkey trade for the lightning despite the fact that they only gave up a third round pick for him but he came in with a big load on his shoulders expecting to take up host of the offensive load from Stephen Stamkos and he doesn't have too 40 goal seasons under his belt tying his career high set in 2018 and 19 21 and 22 with 40 goals in 76 games now I'm not saying that you should expect a 40 goal season from Jake Genssel I think that is going to be the goal because you know Stephen Stamkos another 40 goal season for the lightning that was pretty normal I mean seemed like he did that just about every year with Tampa and replacing him you want to get some of that same production he had 40 over 40 goals over 40 assists last year for Tampa Jake Genssel needs some of that and I think Nikita Kucharov can take away some of the pressure on the offense by you know keeping the puck in his stick a lot and getting Genssel some room to set up and find himself some open space on the ice to cut inside and get himself some goals but I think Genssel needs a big game against the Carolina Hurricanes you know you want to have a statement game when you're starting for your new team especially when you're a former all-star like Genssel is just two years removed from his lone NHL all-stars team and Genssel is going to come in with bigger expectations nine million dollar a year contract seven years sixty three million a day after he was traded to the lightning from the Carolina Hurricanes and not only replacing Steve Samco's but signing a big contract like that is going to give you big expectations on your shoulders now your first game as a member of the lightning preseason or not against your former team when you sign a big contract like Genssel did and then come in and replace one of the best players to ever pick up a hockey stick the big expectations are going to come fans might get pissed if he doesn't have a big game against his former team but I think J Genssel is going to try and make a statement statement I expect at least one point go or assist coming off the stick of J Genssel against his former team in the Carolina Hurricanes in his first outing because it's just what the lightning need him to do they're going to give him a bigger offensive role than he has had in the past he wasn't a first-liner on the hurricanes he was the number three option with two all-time greats for the majority of his career on that line in Pittsburgh so now he's a first-line guy first or second or third option he was the second or third option on this lightning team or he will be the second or third option on this lightning team you could argue the Brayden point might be the two option behind the key to culture of but J Genssel is going to be elevated to a bigger role than he has had in his entire professional career he's doing it against a team who's playing as you know a key player in that post season had some solid games in the regular season in a short sample size but he was a key player working and going against that squad the the outcome in terms of wins and losses might not be as important in the preseason I think to J Genssel it is going to be that important and he's going to try and make a statement for the Tampa Bay Lightning he have some limited minutes as they can save him for the regular season but I expect J Genssel to be key and hopefully a Tampa Bay Lightning victory against the Carolina Hurricanes as I mentioned my prediction 3-2 Lightning J Genssel gets a goal for Tampa Bay and cements a solid start adds pipe to his first season with the Tampa Bay Lightning that is to do it for for today's episode of locked on lightning josh spurber here thanking all of you for making locked on lightning your first listen here today for your second listen make sure to go find locked on NHL when local experts keep you updated daily on the biggest storylines head of the upcoming season you can find locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts thank you again for listening to locked on lightning your team every day I'm josh spurber and please like subscribe follow depending on what platform you're on but make sure most importantly to have a great Tuesday go bolts and we'll have preseason reactions and a whole lot more tomorrow thanks for tuning in have a great day a prime member you can listen to this 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