Before Tampa Bay Lightning fans turn their attentions to the 2016-17 season, let’s take one last look at the 2015-16 season had by Lightning center Valtteri Filppula.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have had a pretty turbulent off-season. From the moment the Lightning headed home from the Consol Energy Center at the conclusion of the Eastern Conference Finals, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman has had his hands full.
There were a plethora of contracts that needed to be signed and not a lot of cap space to make much-needed moves. Thankfully, Yzerman has once again done a masterful job at getting everything in order and preparing the Tampa Bay Lightning for the upcoming season.
Speaking of the upcoming season, the start of the 2016-17 season is a lot closer than one would think. For those of you like us here at Bolts By The Bay who have been counting the days until the start of the new season, we are now just 51 days away from the first official puck drop of the season.
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Keeping this in mind, we think it’s the perfect time to take a quick look back at our favorite number 51, Tampa Bay Lightning center Valtteri Filppula. So, let’s get started.
Tampa Bay Lightning center Valtteri Filppula just finished off his third season with the Bolts. If there was only one word to describe last season for Filppula, it would have to be decent. While he had a better season than a good portion of the roster, it was not the same performance we have come to expect from the veteran Finnish forward.
Valtteri Filppula played in 76 regular season games with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season. In that amount of time, Filppula was able to score eight goals and 23 assists for a total of 31 points. These numbers placed Filppula in the middle of the pack; ninth place in overall points, to be exact.
In Filppula’s first season with the Lightning, which was back in the 2013-14 season, Filppula was able to bring home 25 goals and 33 assists for a total of 58 points. Each season since has shown a steady decline.
Despite his troubles putting the puck in the back of the net, there is one thing that has remained consistent for the Vantaa, Finland native. Filppula has continued to be consistent in the faceoff circle.
This may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but a faceoff win can sometimes be the difference-maker between a team moving on to the next round of the postseason and the very same team heading home in defeat.
If you take into consideration only players who played at least half a season with the Lightning, Valtteri Filppula comes in a strong second place in Faceoff Win Percentage with 52 percent, having only been bested by Tampa Bay Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan.
After the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, Valtteri Filppula will have one year remaining on his current contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. With Filppula’s decrease in production on the scoresheet, it will be interesting to see if the Lightning elect to renew his contract for another couple seasons.
At the same time, Filppula will then be reaching 34 years of age. This will be the moment when he’ll have to decide how much longer he plans to remain on the ice. Heck, judging by players like Florida Panthers veteran Jaromir Jagr, Filppula may have another 10 years in him. Who knows?
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Only time will tell how this story will play out. Hopefully, when the Tampa Bay Lightning kick off their 2016-17 on October 13th, we will start to see glimmers of the Valtteri Filppula we once knew, not only in the faceoff circle but on the ice as well. There is only one person who knows for sure what the future holds, and that’s Valtteri Filppula himself.