Tampa Bay Lightning: Happy Birthday, Andrei Vasilevskiy!

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy turns a whopping twenty one years old today.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has plenty of reasons to be celebrating right now. The organization has made such an incredible transformation over the last few years, which has culminated this season with the Lightning becoming the Eastern Conference Champions and making a solid performance in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.

In addition to all of this, the Tampa Bay Lightning has one more thing to celebrate today; the birth of one of the Lightning’s young stars. Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy turns a whopping twenty one years of age today.

We already felt “over the hill” in some manner, but after seeing just how young some of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s brightest stars are kind of twists that thorn in the side just a little bit deeper, but that is another story for another time.

The young Russian goaltender was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round (19^th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s goaltending situation was in one of the worst states of flux we have seen in quite some time.

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson was having a rather unpleasant final season of his career, which saw him end with a Goals Allowed Average of 3.66 and a Save Percentage of .886. Roloson’s backup Mathieu Garon was not having a stellar season either.

It was clear that something had to be done if the Tampa Bay Lightning were ever going to be viable contenders for the Stanley Cup. The next season the Tampa Bay Lightning handed the reigns to Anders Lindback. As most of you will remember, this ended much the same way as Roloson.

This is not to say that either of these guys are not quality goaltenders. Dwayne Roloson has had a fantastic career, and Lindback has gone on to find a new home with the Arizona Coyotes, but things just didn’t seem to gel when they were here in Tampa Bay.

In the 2012-13 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning had finally found the solution to their goaltending issues. Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman had constructed a trade that saw young Lightning rookie Cory Conacher head to the Ottawa Senators along with a fourth-round draft pick in exchange for Ben Bishop.

After taking up the reins in the 2013-14 season, Bishop had proved that he was the man for the job and was quickly thrust into the top goaltending position. Unfortunately, with his production waining, Anders Lindback found his days numbered here in Tampa Bay.

The next season Yzerman brought in veteran goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to serve as backup to Bishop. Unfortunately, even though Bishop played a majority of the games that season, the production was not there and Nabokov found himself traded back to the San Jose Sharks, the team in which he spent 10 years of his NHL career and held multiple records for, where he would officially announce his retirement.

This is where Andrei Vasilevskiy found his moment in the sun. The 2014-15 season is the first season that the young Russian netminder would play in North America. Prior to being brought up to the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, Vasilevskiy had played for the Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the KHL.

In the 2014-15 season, Andrei Vasilevskiy had a pretty good showing in Syracuse. In the 25 games he played in Syracuse, he held a record of 14-6-5 with a Goals Allowed Average of 2.45 and a Save Percentage of .917.

After Nabokov made his way back to the San Jose Sharks, it was Vasilevskiy who would get the call to serve as backup for Ben Bishop for the remainder of the season and deep into the post season. Vasilevskiy played in 16 games with the Lightning in the regular season, which ended with him having a 7-5-1 record, a Goals Allowed Average of 2.36 and a Save Percentage of .918.

While the playoffs may not have been the spectacular showing that one would have hoped for Vasilevskiy, the kind of experience he gained while playing on such an accelerated level is invaluable to his development as a player.

Judging by what we have seen thus far, Vasilevskiy could stand to be one of the biggest assets that the Tampa Bay Lightning has in their arsenal right now. Right now, he has an opportunity to serve as backup for one of the best goaltenders in Tampa Bay Lightning history. Who knows…one day he may very well be the face of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltending.

In the meantime, join us here at Bolts By The Bay in wishing Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy a very Happy Birthday!!! Hopefully, he has had an amazing day and had an opportunity to spend it with family and friends.

What kind of expectations do you have for Andrei Vasilevskiy next season? How many games do you think he will see in the NHL next season? Do you think he could one day be the future of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltending? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: Who is the Toughest Competition Next Season?

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