1992–93 Tampa Bay Lightning season
The 1992–93 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the team's inaugural season in the National Hockey League. They finished sixth in the Norris Division with a record of 23 wins, 54 losses, and 7 ties for 53 points.
Offseason
Manon Rhéaume
On September 23, 1992, Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play in an NHL exhibition game as the Tampa Bay Lightning played against the St. Louis Blues.Expansion draft
NHL draft
Tampa Bay's draft picks at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 1 | Roman Hamrlik | ZPS Zlín | |
| 2 | 26 | Drew Bannister | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| 3 | 49 | Brent Gretzky | Belleville Bulls | |
| 4 | 74 | Aaron Gavey | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| 5 | 97 | Brantt Myhres | Lethbridge Hurricanes | |
| 6 | 122 | Martin Tanguay | Verdun Collège Français | |
| 7 | 145 | Derek Wilkinson | Detroit Whalers | |
| 8 | 170 | Dennis Maxwell | Niagara Falls Thunder | |
| 9 | 193 | Andrew Kemper | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| 10 | 218 | Marc Tardiff | Shawinigan Cataractes | |
| 11 | 241 | Tom MacDonald | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| S | 1 | Cory Cross | University of Alberta |
Regular season
The Lightning finished last in penalty-kill % during the regular season.In the Lightning's very first NHL game on Wednesday, October 7, 1992, Chris Kontos scored the first hat trick in Lightning history as Tampa Bay defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3.
Final standings
Game log
Player stats
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| C | 80 | 42 | 44 | 86 | 92 | -24 | 16 | 0 | 6 | |
| C | 78 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 69 | -12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| LW/C | 66 | 27 | 24 | 51 | 12 | -7 | 12 | 1 | 3 | |
| LW | 84 | 15 | 28 | 43 | 74 | -25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 83 | 19 | 20 | 39 | 110 | -19 | 7 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 55 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 36 | -21 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 64 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 70 | -25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 63 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 111 | -12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| D | 40 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 18 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 77 | 16 | 11 | 27 | 14 | -14 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |
| C/RW | 67 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 23 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| RW | 54 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 67 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 71 | -21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 63 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 35 | -20 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 66 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 138 | -21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 78 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 66 | -16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 42 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 69 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C/RW | 25 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 61 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 150 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 58 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 154 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 47 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 18 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 27 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 14 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 71 | -3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C/LW | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 17 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 38 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 43 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 1163 | 21 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 71 | 3.66 | 0 | 574 | 503 | .876 | |
| 2268 | 43 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 150 | 3.97 | 1 | 1194 | 1044 | .874 | |
| 1591 | 31 | 7 | 19 | 2 | 97 | 3.66 | 0 | 758 | 661 | .872 | |
| 45 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9.33 | 0 | 21 | 14 | .667 | |
| Team: | 5067 | 84 | 23 | 54 | 7 | 325 | 3.85 | 1 | 2547 | 2222 | .872 |
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Transactions
All Season Trades
- trades listed are from June 1, 1992, to June 1, 1993.
| Date | Traded | Acquired | Acquired From |
| June 18 | Frederic Chabot | Jean-Claude Bergeron | Montreal Canadiens |
| June 19 | Tim Hunter | future considerations | Quebec Nordiques |
| June 19 | 1995 5th rd pick, 1996 6th rd pick, future considerations | Pat Jablonski, Darin Kimble, Rob Robinson, Steve Tuttle | St. Louis Blues |
| June 19 | future considerations | Danton Cole | Winnipeg Jets |
| Sept 4 | Darin Kimble, future considerations | Matt Hervey, Ken Hodge Jr. | Boston Bruins |
| Sept 25 | future considerations | Jeff Bloemberg | Edmonton Oilers |
| Oct 5 | 1994 5th rd. pick | Adam Creighton | New York Islanders |
| Oct 28 | Stephane Richer | Bob Beers | Boston Bruins |
| Nov 3 | Anatoli Semenov | Dave Capuano, 1994 4th rd. pick | Vancouver Canucks |
| Dec 8 | Dan Vincelette | Steve Kasper | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Jan 28 | Doug Crossman, Basil McRae, 1996 4th rd. pick | Jason Ruff, 1995 5th rd. pick, 1996 6th rd. pick, future considerations | St. Louis Blues |
| Feb 12 | Michel Mongeau, Martin Simand, Steve Tuttle | Herb Raglan | Quebec Nordiques |
| Mar 20 | Rob Ramage | Eric Charron, Alain Cote, Donald Dufrene | Montreal Canadiens |
| Mar 22 | Mike Hartman | Randy Gilhen | New York Rangers |
| Mar 22 | 1993 3rd rd. pick | Peter Taglianetti | Pittsburgh Penguins |