Tampa Bay Lightning: Bottom Six Will be a Work in Progress

Through the first three games of the 2023-24 Tampa Bay Lightning season, the offensive production has been fine. They have 11 goals which is good enough for sixth in the NHL at this point. The biggest concern offensively so far is that they have not gotten much from their bottom six forwards. With so many new faces in that part of the lineup, it may take some time for the production to come along.

Sunday night’s game in Ottawa showed some signs of improvement as Tanner Jeannot scored his first goal of the season and added an assist as well. Jeannot was playing higher up in the lineup as a result of Steven Stamkos missing the game with a lower body injury. Jeannot bumped up to the second line along with Mikey Eyssimont on Anthony Cirelli’s wings. This line was by far Tampa Bay’s best in a losing effort against the Senators.

Jeannot is traditionally a bottom six player, but since he was playing on the second line yesterday and getting a little more ice time than usual, the Lightning are still looking for their first goal from the bottom six. Nick Paul has a pair of goals so far but both have come on the power play as a new member of the top unit.

The bottom six is made up of essentially entirely new faces this year. Conor Sheary, Luke Glendenning and Waltteri Merela are all completely new. Austin Watson and Alex Barre-Boulet also played in just their first games of the season on Sunday. Jeannot and Eyssimont are even still relatively new as well. To say the least, this group is still trying to gel and it might take some time.

With more reps together and finding line combinations that are affective, we should start to notice the bottom two lines more. These players have still been working hard, blocking shots and killing penalties, but at some point, you want to see them get on the scoresheet.

The Lightning are hopeful that Stamkos will not miss much time and players can return to their more traditional roles within the lineup. One of their first three games featured 11 forwards on Saturday night and Sunday night went on without Stamkos. Three different lineups in three games makes it challenging to find a rhythm. If they are able to find a more steady combination of forwards, production should follow.