Tampa Bay Lightning Win 2021 Stanley Cup, Go Back to Back

Pat Maroon has now won three straight Stanley Cups. It sounds like a strange way to start a post about an NHL Championship series win for a team that could be arguably called a dynasty, but for a player who didn’t really play all that much and hasn’t been more than a depth player most of his career, finding a way to win three championships in a row is an incredible feat.

Maroon won’t be the only one celebrating. In a year where everything was a bit different than its ever been in the past, two traditionally Eastern Conference teams played each other for the league’s biggest prize. It was the first time in forever that a Canadian team made it back to the Stanley Cup Final, and there incredible storylines throughout the season and heading into the postseason.

Congratulations go out to the Lightning who made it look as though the playoffs were never in doubt, even if they hit a few hurdles along the way.

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BACK-TO-BACK!

THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ARE THE 2021 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS.#GoBolts | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/1AsAEQhRNR

— NHL on NBC Sports (@NHLonNBCSports) July 8, 2021

Credit goes out to the Montreal Canadien as they had an excellent playoffs and got a lot farther than most would have expected. As Ryan Whitney of Spittin’ Chiclets wrote, “What a run by Montreal. In the end they ran into one of the best teams I’ve ever seen. A perfectly balanced 4 lines, 6 Defensemen who can play including 3 studs on LD and then the best goalie in the world in the crease. They define the term Wagon. Congrats to Tampa Bay.”

The Lightning were favorites in a lot of ways from the outset. This has been a great franchise for years — a club who has exceled at drafting and developing, plus a team that made key trades and juggled the salary cap to ice the best possible roster. Some fans will argue that they may have been “too good” at it, but that’s another story for another time.

Pierre LeBrun points out, “The 62-win Lightning of 2018-19 got swept by Columbus in the first round. Since then, Tampa Bay has won eight straight playoff series, never trailed in a series, never lost back-to-back playoff games en route to winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.” That’s pretty amazing.

Andrei Vasilevskiy is the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, a decision that was never really in doubt. This was his fifth straight shutout in series-clinching game. Brayden Point with 14 goals, 23 points and his second straight championship. Nikita Kucherov posted another 30+ points in the playoffs.

Now, Onto Other NHL Business

Now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded, the NHL buyout window is set to open later this week. There are plenty of teams who might take advantage of that window, including the Lightning who have a lot of salary to clear off the books and very little time to do so. They are likely to lose four or five impact players from this current championship roster.

As for the Canadiens, we’ll see how much they stick with a roster that almost got it done.

Here are some key dates to note:

• Friday-First Buyout Period Begins
• July 17 – Deadline for Protection Lists for Expansion Draft
• July 21 – Expansion Draft for Seattle Kraken
• July 23 – Round 1 of NHL Draft
• July 24 – Rounds 2-7 of NHL Draft
• July 28 – Free Agent signing begins

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