Stanley Cups: 1

2008-'09 record: 24-40-18, 66 points (5th in Southeast, 14th in East)

2008-'09 playoffs: Did not qualify

General manager: Brian Lawton (24-40-18, 2nd NHL year, 1st team)

Coach: Rick Tocchet (19-33-14, 2nd NHL year, 1st team)

Captain: Vincent Lecavalier

Top returning scorer: RW Martin St. Louis (30 goals, 50 assists, 80 points)

Top returning goalie: Mike Smith (14-18-9, 2.62, .916)

Key additions: D Mattias Ohlund; D Matt Walker; LW Stephane Veilleux; D Kurtis Foster; G Antero Niittymaki; LW Todd Fedoruk; LW Drew Miller; LW Alex Tanguay.

Key subtractions: LW David Koci; D Richard Petiot; D Brandon Segal; D Noah Welch; D Cory Murphy; RW Jason Ward; LW Vaclav Prospal; D David Hale; LW Radim Vrbata; RW Evgeny Artyukhin; LW Matt Pettinger; D Marek Malik; D Josef Melichar.

Top line: LW Ryan Malone, C Steven Stamkos; RW Martin St. Louis

Top defensive pairing: Victor Hedman, Mattias Ohlund

Goaltending: One of the many things that went wrong for the Lightning last season was when Smith was lost for the season after suffering a January concussion. The former Dallas backup was one of the few bright spots up until that point, using huge 6-foot-3, 210 pound frame to fill net in butterfly stance. Drops down a little too much, though and teams began to take advantage of this flaw.

Player to watch: D Victor Hedman. Played like a man among boys last season, even though he was a boy playing in a men’s league, the Swedish Elitserin. Named top rookie after posting plus-21 rating, third-best in league. Huge (6-6, 220) blue-liner is skilled and mobile on his skates. The complete package.

Icing: Stability with Tocchet behind the bench can only be a plus for the Lightning, who fired coach Barry Melrose last season just 16 games into the season. Lecavalier is all over the Lightning record book, topping the team in career goals (302), assists (367), points (669), power-play goals (85), game-winning goals (47) and games (787). He will be able to mentor Stamkos, last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, who finished with 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) in his final 39 games. He had only 14 points in the first 40 games.

Outlook: What didn’t go wrong for this team last season? And there’s still unresolved ownership issues to be dealt with. Count on the Lightning being struck down again this season.

Prediction: 79 points, 5th in Southeast, 14th seed in East.

NHL TEAM-BY-TEAM PREVIEWS Teams listed in predicted order of finish; x-playoff team ATLANTIC x-Penguins x-Flyers x-Devils x-Rangers Islanders Vote: Winner? CENTRAL x-Red Wings x-Blackhawks x-Blue Jackets x-Blues Predators Vote: Winner? NORTHEAST x-Bruins x-Canadiens Sabres Maple Leafs Senators Vote: Winner? NORTHWEST x-Flames x-Canucks Oilers Wild Avalanche Vote: Winner? SOUTHEAST x-Capitals x-Hurricanes Thrashers Panthers Lightning Vote: Winner? PACIFIC x-Sharks x-Ducks Stars Kings Coyotes Vote: Winner?

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