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Tampa Bay Lightning: Five reasons for concern in 2023-24

By Benjamin Henderson

Oct 11, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper watches his players during the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper watches his players during the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tampa Bay Lightning
Dec 13, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Washington Capitals forward Conor Sheary (73) skates against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports /

Tampa Bay Lightning Reasons For Concern: Conor Sheary

Acquired in free agency from Washington, Conor Sheary is a capable goal scorer.

When paired with Alex Ovechkin.

News flash: he won’t be paired with Alex Ovechkin in Tampa.

Last year, he scored 15 goals and had 22 assists. These are serviceable numbers but also fall in line with Alex Killorn’s numbers pre-2019.

With the anticipation that Sheary will be taking Killorn’s spot on the second line, he will need to double his goal-scoring to match what Killorn did the last couple of seasons.

And at 5’9″ and 179 pounds, Sheary is four inches shorter and 15 pounds lighter than Killorn.

If Sheary can’t find the back of the net at least 20 times, it is going to put even more pressure on Point, Stamkos, Kucherov, and Hagel to produce.

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