2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning season
The 2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning season is 28th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on December 16, 1991. The Lightning entered the season as the defending Atlantic Division and Presidents' Trophy champions.
The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs are scheduled to begin in a modified format involving 24 teams. The Lightning would be given a bye into the first round of the playoffs by virtue of having the second-highest point percentage in the Eastern Conference at the time of the pause. They are planned to compete for seeding in a four-team single round-robin along with the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia Flyers.
On July 10, following the extension of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement by the league and the Players' Association, it was announced that the Canadian cities of Toronto and Edmonton would be the locations the playoffs would be staged in. The Lightning would be beginning in Toronto with the other Eastern Conference teams.
Off-season
April
The Lightning's off season began on April 16, 2019, when they were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.May
The Lightning's first move of the off season happened on May 3, 2019, when the team signed Jan Rutta to a 1-year contract extension. Rutta appeared in 14 regular season games and 4 playoffs games for the Lightning after coming over in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks.On May 23, 2019, the Lightning and forward prospect Jonne Tammela mutually agreed to part ways via contract termination. On May 28, 2019, Tammela signed with Lukko of the Liiga hockey league in Finland.
June
On June 14, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenceman Cameron Gaunce to a 1-year contract extension. Last season Gaunce appeared in two regular season games with the Lightning.On June 18, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenceman Braydon Coburn to a two-year contract extension valued at $3.4 million. The contract will carry a $1.7 million cap hit. Coburn was coming off a three year contract with the team. In 74 games last season Coburn produced 23 points, which set a personal best during his tenure with the club.
On June 19, 2019, the Lightning announced that they had re-signed defenceman Daniel Walcott to a 1-year contract extension. Walcott missed the majority of the previous season due to injury.
That same evening, the NHL conducted the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas. Nikita Kucherov was awarded the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Memorial Trophy. Kucherov was the second player in franchise history win the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Memorial Trophy. Andrei Vasilevskiy was awarded the Vezina Trophy. Vasilevskiy was the first goaltender in franchise history to win the award. Additionally, the NHL announced the NHL All-Star Teams and the NHL All-Rookie Team. Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy were named to the NHL First All-Star Team and Victor Hedman was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team. Anthony Cirelli was named to the All-Rookie Team.
On June 20, 2019, the Lightning announced that Ryan Callahan had been diagnosed with a degenerative disk disease of the lower spine. Doctors gave Callahan the recommendation that it was medically in his best interest to no longer play hockey. The team further announced that it would be placing Callahan on Long Term Injured Reserve for the upcoming season, which is the final year of his contract. Callahan stated in an interview after the announcement that his back had been an issue for him for the last few seasons and that this past season was the worst it had been. Callahan will finish his career with 757 games played, recording 186 goals and 386 points.
On June 22, 2019, the Lightning traded forward J. T. Miller to the Vancouver Canucks on the second day of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. The Lightning received goaltender Marek Mazanec, a 3rd-round pick in 2019, and a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The condition of the pick is that if the Canucks miss the playoffs in the coming season the pick becomes a 1st-round pick in 2021.
July
On July 5, 2019, the Lightning re-signed forward Carter Verhaeghe to a 1-year contact extension. Verhaeghe led the Syracuse Crunch and American Hockey League in scoring with 82 points.On the same day, the Lightning re-signed forward Cedric Paquette to a 2-year, contract extension. The cap hit on the contract is valued at $1.65 million. Paquette recorded 13 goals and 17 points last season for the Lightning.
On July 8, 2019, the Lightning signed forward Gemel Smith to a 1-year, 2-way contract. Last season Smith skated with the Dallas Stars and Boston Bruins, appearing in 17 NHL games in which he recorded 2 goals and 1 assist. In his professional career Smith has appearing in 80 NHL games, recording 11 goals and 20 points.
On July 9, 2019, the Lightning re-signed forward Danick Martel to a 1-year contract extension. Martel made the Lightning's roster last season, but primarily was healthy scratched. Martel skated in 9 games, recording 2 assists.
On July 16, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenseman Ben Thomas to a 1-year contract extension. Thomas was drafted by the Lightning in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, and has spent the previous seasons three seasons in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch.
On July 17, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenseman Dominik Masin to a 1-year contract extension. Masin has spent the last three seasons playing for the Syracuse Crunch. Last season Masin skated in 69 games with the Crunch, recording 2 goals and 10 assists.
On July 29, 2019, the Lightning re-signed starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to a $76 million, 8-year contract extension. The annual cap hit is valued at $9.5 million. Vasilevskiy was coming off his first career Vezina Trophy win as the NHL's top goaltender. Vasilevskiy recorded a.925 save percentage, 2.40 goals-against average, and 6 shutouts during his Vezina campaign.
On July 30, 2019, the Lightning traded forward Ryan Callahan and the team's fifth-round 2020 draft pick to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Mike Condon and Ottawa's 2020 sixth-round pick. The move freed up approximately $3.4 million in cap space.
August
On August 5, 2019, the Lightning signed free-agent defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk to a one-year, $1.75 million contract. Shattenkirk had played the previous two seasons for the New York Rangers before being bought out by the team. In the season prior to his buyout, Shattenkirk recorded 2 goals and 26 assists over 76 games.On August 14, 2019, the Lightning traded forward Adam Erne to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft. Last season Erne skated in 65 games with the Lightning, recording 7 goals and 13 assists. Erne was originally acquired by the Lightning in the second-round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
On August 24, 2019, the Lightning signed free-agent forward Patrick Maroon to a one-year, $900,000 contract. Maroon spent the previous season with the St. Louis Blues where he helped them capture their first Stanley Cup championship. Maroon scored 10 goals, and 28 points over 74 games in the regular season. In the playoffs Maroon recorded 3 goals and 7 points in 26 games.
Training camp
September
On September 11, 2019, the Lightning announced their training camp roster for the coming season. The camp is to be divided among three rosters, which are named after Lightning radio and television broadcasters. Notably absent from the roster was Lightning forward Brayden Point. Point currently remains unsigned as a restricted free agent.On September 18, 2019, the Lightning made their first round of training camp roster cuts. The team trimmed their roster of six players to reduce the camp roster down to 56 players. Lightning prospects Gabriel Fortier, Maxim Cajkovic and Quinn Schmeimann were assigned to their junior teams.
Eli Zummack, Louis Crevier and Cody Donaghey were released from their tryout agreements.
On September 20, 2019, the Lightning placed goaltenders Mike Condon and Louis Domingue on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Syracuse for the upcoming season. Domingue served as the Lightning's backup last season and Condon was acquired in trade of forward Ryan Callahan. The team was rumored to have been trying to trade Domingue all summer, but no trade materialized. Both goaltenders cleared waviers the following day.
On September 21, 2019, the Lightning made their second round of training camp roster cuts to reduce their roster to 42-players. The forward group cut consisted of Peter Abbandonato, Jimmy Huntington, Boris Katchouk, Alexey Lipanov, Ryan Lohin, Kevin Lynch, Mikhail Shalagin, and Dennis Yan. On defense it was Luc Snuggerud, Oleg Sosunov, Matt Spencer, and Nolan Valleau. Clint Windsor was the sole goaltender cut among the group. This group of players will report to Syracuse for training camp. Additionally, Cory Conacher, Chris Mueller and Spencer Martin were placed on waivers with the purpose of assignment to Syracuse.
On September 22, 2019, the Lightning made their third round of training cam roster cuts. The team assigned forwards Alex Barre-Boulet, Ross Colton, Cory Conacher, Chris Mueller, Otto Somppi and Mitchell Stephens to Syracuse. Defeseman Cal Foote and goaltender Spencer Martin were also assigned to Syracuse. Conacher, Mueller and Martin were assigned due to having cleared waivers. Forward Nolan Foote was assigned to his junior club. The team also placed Cameron Gaunce, Dominik Masin and Scott Wedgewood on waivers for assignment to Syracuse. All three players cleared waivers the following day.
On September 23, 2019, the Lightning announced that it had re-signed center Brayden Point to a three-year contract extension with a cap hit valued at $6.75 million annually. Point set career highs last season, recording 41 goals, 92 points and 51 assists. The team also announced that Point would not be medically cleared to play until late October due a procedure he had in the off-season.
On September 30, 2019, the Lightning made its final training camp roster cuts. The Lightning assigned forwards Danick Martel and Alexander Volkov to the Syracuse Crunch. Defenseman Luke Schenn was placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Syracuse. The forwards named to the opening night roster were Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Mathieu Joseph, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Maroon, Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette, Brayden Point, Gemel Smith, Steven Stamkos, and Carter Verhaeghe. The defensemen named were Erik Cernak, Braydon Coburn, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mikhail Sergachev, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Luke Witkowski. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Curtis McElhinney were the starting and backup goaltenders named to the roster.
Standings
Divisional standings
Eastern Conference
Schedule and results
Preseason
Regular season
Playoffs
Player stats
March 10, 2020Skaters
| Player | ||||||
| 68 | 33 | 52 | 85 | 26 | 38 | |
| 57 | 29 | 37 | 66 | 14 | 22 | |
| 66 | 25 | 39 | 64 | 28 | 11 | |
| 66 | 11 | 44 | 55 | 27 | 31 | |
| 68 | 26 | 23 | 49 | 19 | 20 | |
| 68 | 16 | 28 | 44 | 28 | 30 | |
| 69 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 25 | 22 | |
| 70 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 15 | 58 | |
| 70 | 8 | 26 | 34 | 22 | 38 | |
| 65 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 9 | 16 | |
| 70 | 10 | 20 | 30 | −5 | 49 | |
| 64 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 4 | 71 | |
| 60 | 7 | 11 | 18 | −1 | 40 | |
| 52 | 9 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 8 | |
| 67 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 59 | |
| 50 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 19 | |
| 37 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −2 | 16 | |
| 33 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 14 | |
| 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −9 | 10 | |
| 40 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 16 | |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | |
| 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −8 | 23 | |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 13 | |
| † | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| † | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 6 | |
| † | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| Player | ||||||
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – |
Goaltenders
| Player | |||||||||||||
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
†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
Roster
Suspensions/fines
Awards and honours
Awards
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| NHL First Star of the Week | December 30, 2019 | |
| NHL All-Star Game selection | December 30, 2019 | |
| NHL First Star of the Week | January 13, 2020 | |
| NHL All-Star Game selection | January 13, 2020 | |
| NHL 2010s All-Decade Second Team | January 24, 2020 | |
| NHL Third Star of January | February 1, 2020 | |
| NHL Second Star of the Week | February 3, 2020 | |
| NHL Third Star of the Week | February 10, 2020 | |
| NHL Second Star of the Week | February 17, 2020 |
Milestones
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1st career NHL game | October 3, 2019 |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 5, 2019 |
| Victor Hedman | 700th career NHL game | October 10, 2019 |
| Brayden Point | 200th career NHL point | October 10, 2019 |
| Alexander Volkov | 1st career NHL game | October 30, 2019 |
| Yanni Gourde | 200th career NHL game | November 14, 2020 |
| Steven Stamkos | 400th career NHL goal | November 16, 2019 |
| Ondrej Palat | 100th career NHL goal | November 23, 2019 |
| Ondrej Palat | 200th career NHL assist 300th career NHL point | November 25, 2019 |
| Brayden Point | 100th career NHL goal | November 29, 2019 |
| Victor Hedman | 100th career NHL goal | December 5, 2019 |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1st career NHL goal | December 7, 2019 |
| Mitchell Stephens | 1st career NHL game | December 9, 2019 |
| Mathieu Joseph | 100th career NHL game | December 14, 2019 |
| Nikita Kucherov | 200th career NHL goal | December 22, 2019 |
| Nikita Kucherov | 300th career NHL assist 500th career NHL point | December 23, 2019 |
| Tyler Johnson | 500th career NHL game | December 28, 2019 |
| Mitchell Stephens | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | December 28, 2019 |
| Steven Stamkos | 800th career NHL point | December 28, 2019 |
| Mikhail Sergachev | 200th career NHL game | January 7, 2020 |
| Mitchell Stephens | 1st career NHL assist | January 7, 2020 |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1st career NHL Hat-trick | January 7, 2020 |
| Steven Stamkos | 400th career NHL assist | January 9, 2020 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | 20th career NHL shutout | January 11, 2020 |
| Erik Cernak | 100th career NHL game | January 12, 2020 |
| Alexander Volkov | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | January 14, 2020 |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1st career NHL Hat-trick | January 17, 2020 |
| Alex Killorn | 300th career NHL point | January 17, 2020 |
| Nikita Kucherov | 500th career NHL game | February 6, 2020 |
| Patrick Maroon | 500th career NHL game | February 10, 2020 |
| Mikhail Sergachev | 100th career NHL point | February 10, 2020 |
| Steven Stamkos | 800th career NHL game | February 17, 2020 |
| Kevin Shattenkirk | 300th career NHL assist | March 5, 2020 |
Transactions
The Lightning have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.Trades
Free agents
Waivers
Contract terminations
Retirement
Signings
Draft picks
Below are the Tampa Bay Lightning's selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 27 | Nolan Foote | LW | United States | Kelowna Rockets |
| 3 | 711 | Hugo Alnefelt | G | Sweden | HV71 J20 |
| 3 | 89 | Maxim Cajkovic | RW | Slovakia | Saint John Sea Dogs |
| 4 | 120 | Maxwell Crozier | D | Canada | Sioux Falls Stampede |
| 6 | 182 | Quinn Schmiemann | D |  Canada | Kamloops Blazers |
| 7 | 1892 | Mikhail Shalagin | LW | Russia | JHC Spartak |
| 7 | 213 | McKade Webster | LW | United States | Green Bay Gamblers |
Notes:
- The Vancouver Canucks' third-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent J. T. Miller to Vancouver in exchange for Marek Mazanec, a conditional first-round pick 2020 and this pick.
- The Chicago Blackhawks' seventh-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on January 11, 2019, that sent Slater Koekkoek and a fifth-round pick in 2019 to Chicago in exchange for Jan Rutta and this pick.