There was a time when Andrei Vasilevskiy seemed borderline automatic. When the Tampa Bay Lightning could count on him as the player who would always put them over the top when all other things were equal. The netminder was tremendous during the team's back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, securing the Conn Smythe in 2021 while playing every minute of every playoff game in the bubble in 2022.
That was a long time ago, though, and Vasilevskiy's reputation as a big-game goaltender has taken repeated hits over the last four seasons. He's still putting up good numbers during the regular season, but when push comes to shove in the playoffs, he can more often be seen wilting in the crease than standing tall.
The Lightning can make all the moves they want this summer, but if they can't find a way to get the future Hall of Famer back to his old playoff self, they will still come up short in the postseason. One way to help the netminder would be to ease his workload during the regular season. Tampa Bay has heard this song before, but as Vasilevskiy gets older, finding a second option who can consistently win games is even more important than ever.
Jonas Johansson's best days are seemingly behind him
When Jonas Johansson landed in Tampa Bay, he played the hero while Vasilevskiy recovered from major back surgery. It seemed like the Lightning had finally found a goalie who could allow "Vas" a night off now and again while also giving the team a good chance to win. He may have done that in the past, but 2025-26 seemed to indicate that he won't be capable of doing it moving forward.
Julien BriseBois isn't the sentimental type, and it doesn't seem likely he'd get hung up on what Johansson has done previously when looking to make an upgrade in the crease. Only two goalies made more starts than Vasilevskiy last season, and few backups were as ineffective as Johansson.
Several things need to go right for the Lightning to make noise in the playoffs again, but a fresh, well-rested No. 1 goalie would certainly go a long way toward allowing that to happen. Johansson's only got one year left on his contract, and his meager $1.25 million cap hit should be easy enough to handle. Who could BriseBois look to bring in, though?
Interesting backup goalie options available for the Lightning
The Lightning could address this role in a few different ways. The most likely one would be to ink one of the handful of established NHL-caliber netminders who are entering free agency in July. BriseBois isn't going to go after someone like Sergei Bobrovsky, but a goalie such as Connor Ingram could make a lot of sense on the right deal.
Several teams are looking for potential starters, including the team Ingram is leaving, the Edmonton Oilers. If Ingram is more interested in a possible road to becoming the No. 1, then Tampa won't be a good fit. Vasilevskiy's play would have to absolutely crater for the starting role to open up with the Lightning.
Ingram has proven that he can be a high-floor backup in this league, however, and would be a significant upgrade over Johansson in terms of upside and stability. Taking another eight to 10 games off of Vasilevskiy is the goal, and Ingram would be capable of doing that.
There are also a few trade candidates who could make a lot of sense, especially if the Lightning would prefer a younger option behind their veteran starter. The kicker with targets like Sebastian Cossa, of course, is that they might not actually prove to be steadier than Johansson. At least not right away. The ideal candidate for the Lightning is someone they could slot in for a spot playoff start, while also playing better than .500 hockey during the regular season.
Regardless of how the Lightning goes about fixing this particular roster problem, addressing the backup goalie position is one of the most surefire ways they could seek to boost the odds of making it out of round one.
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