Tampa Bay Lightning Fantasy Forecast: Defense

 #5 Jason Garrison

Mar 23, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Jason Garrison (5) skates with the puck against the Buffalo Sabres during the third period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Age: 29

Height: 6’2

Weight: 220

2013/2014

(Vancouver) GP: 81  G: 7   A: 26  Pts: 33  +/-: -5

Right off the bat, let me say this: Don’t hold last season against Jason Garrison.  Keep the context of his season in mind.  He was playing for the Vancouver Canucks, a team whose operations reminded one more of a circus than an NHL franchise.  Between a star goaltender making no secret of his hopes to be traded (and subsequently not being traded for nearly two years), a rumored-to-be disliked teammate making a secret of his obvious hope to be traded, a GM who either couldn’t make a decent trade or simply didn’t have the power to, and, just for kicks, a batcrap crazy coach who tried to fight his way through the Calgary Flames to get to Bob Hartley…  well, you get the idea.

Let’s just say playing conditions were not pleasant.

Still, purely in terms of numbers, Garrison wound up with an okay season.  No, he didn’t score double digits in goals like he did with the Panthers in 2011/2012, and yes, he wound up on the wrong side of zero in his plus/minus rating.  But Garrison did manage to match his career high 33 points, and still potted seven goals—four of them on the powerplay.

2014/2015 Forecast: If you’re expecting Garrison to return to big-time goal-scoring form, you might be in for a disappointment.  It’s unlikely that he’ll find himself on the first powerplay unit in Tampa Bay, because the first powerplay unit appears to be pretty much set—Jon Cooper like to use just one defenseman on that unit, and Garrison’s probably not winning that spot from Victor Hedman.

Still, Garrison should be active enough on the second unit to finish with the handful of goals he always does.  But he will mostly be relied upon for a steady two-way game, and will perhaps be paired up with Matt Carle in order to reduce the team’s reliance on Radko Gudas.

2014/2015 Prediction

GP: 80   G:  7   A: 22   Pts: 29