Before fans turn their full attention to the 2016-17 season, we take a closer look at the 2015-16 season had by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn.
Last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning had an opportunity to taste success as they came within one game of making a repeat appearance in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final and fighting for the right to hold the Stanley Cup high above their heads. When you taste success like this, the desire to do it again burns brightly in the souls of the players.
One of the key components to a successful team is a successful defense. As anyone who has been counting the days until the first official puck drop of the 2016-17 season knows by now, we are just 55 days away from the Tampa Bay Lightning taking the ice and fighting to find themselves in a similar position next season.
What better time to take a look back at the 2015-16 season of one of Tampa Bay’s favorite number 55’s. Before we turn our attention to the upcoming season, let’s take a closer look at the season had by the Lightning’s very own #55, defenseman Braydon Coburn.
Tampa Bay Lightning
In the 2014-15 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were looking at making a substantial run at the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, they found themselves down one of the key pieces to the puzzle, Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas. Gudas was forced to miss the final part of the season due to a knee injury.
With Gudas on the sidelines with no hope of return for the postseason, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman was faced with a very difficult decision. Ultimately, Yzerman elected to trade the injured Gudas to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for veteran defenseman Braydon Coburn.
Coburn only played in a total of four games that season, but he was able to prove that he not only deserved a spot on the team but that he could be counted on moving forward. This is something the Lightning would need coming into the 2015-16 season.
The 2015-16 season proved to be the first real test of Coburn’s abilities. Unlike defensemen like Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, Coburn’s strengths were not illuminated by the scoresheet. In the 80 games Coburn played with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, he was only able to register one goal and nine assists for a total of 10 points.
On the flip side, what Coburn lacked in offense, he more than made up for in defense. Braydon Coburn came in first place on the team in terms of hits with 111, averaging at least 1.4 hits per game. This placed Coburn 11 hits above Anton Stralman and a whopping 49 hits ahead of Victor Hedman.
Coburn found himself near the middle of the pack when it came to blocked shots. With a total of 88 blocked shots on the season (an average of 1.1 per game,) Coburn found himself in fourth place on the team.
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As many fans here in the Bolts Nation are already aware of, there are going to be quite a few shakeups to the lineup this season, including some on the Lightning blueline. After the Tampa Bay Lightning elected to buy out the remaining time on the contract of defenseman Matt Carle, there is now a hole in the defense that needs to be filled.
There are plenty of people within the Tampa Bay Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, who are chomping at the bit for their opportunity to prove themselves and potentially find themselves a spot on the main roster.
Depending on who makes their way to the main roster to fill the aforementioned hole in the defense, Coburn could find himself playing a different mix of shifts per game. Players like Slater Koekkoek and Luke Witkowski have both had an opportunity to play on NHL ice and undoubtedly have the hunger to make their time on the main roster more permanent.
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As training camp comes closer and the Tampa Bay Lightning make their way back to the ice, the overall picture will finally start to come into view. We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to see how things shake out here in the Bolts Nation and how the Lightning’s blueline will look coming into the 2016-17 season.