Ask Burnsie: Trade deadline edition

TampaBayLightning.com beat writer Bryan Burns will answer readers' most intriguing questions in a regular mailbag feature. Be sure to tweet questions to @bburnsnhl and include the hashtag #AskBurnsie to have your question answered in a future mailbag. If your question wasn't answered today, resubmit it and we'll attempt to get it in for another edition. Have fun with your questions too; the more off-beat the query the better.

With the historic pace this team is on, do you look to make a move at the deadline that puts this team over the top of do you stand pat? (via @mizzle\rizzle)
With the Lightning having 7 NHL caliber defensemen (3 of which UFA), do you think one of them might be traded for picks or prospects at the deadline? Maybe even a piece for a rental? (via @austinh479627)
Do you think the Lightning will go after a more physical forward before the trade deadline? I.E Simmonds or Ferland (via @Ryan\Staffeld)
Columbus just traded for Duchene. Now the NHL knows what it costs to get a top forward. Do you think BriseBois is ready to give up prospects and picks to make the #1 team in the league better? (via @CzyzNicolas)
Let's get all the trade questions out of the way from the jump
Do I know if the Lightning are making a trade?
No
Do I think the Lightning should make a trade?
I'm not sure
Can the team, as currently composed, win a Stanley Cup?
Maybe
Would an impact forward or a depth defenseman put the Bolts over the top?
Maybe
I know those answers aren't satisfying, but it's impossible to know what Lightning brass is thinking as Monday's trade deadline nears.
I've gone back and forth on whether the Bolts need to add a piece. When the team sputtered to a 6-4-0 record in January and scored only seven goals combined in their first five games coming out of the bye week, I thought a power forward with the ability to contribute offensively, like Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds or Carolina's Michael Ferland, could be a valuable addition. We all remember how the Lightning were shut out for nearly the final eight periods of last season's Eastern Conference Final versus Washington. Picking up some more scoring punch at the deadline might help insure that wouldn't happen again.
But since going through that brief drought, the Lightning have regained their scoring touch, netting five or more goals in six of their last eight games. And they're on one of their hottest runs of the season having won eight games in a row and grabbing points in 12 straight. Does the team really need more scoring? They're the top scoring team in the NHL at 3.85 goals per game. Wouldn't it just be overkill at this point, mortgaging valuable pieces for the future to gain an asset you may or may not need?
It's a difficult decision for Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois and the rest of the management staff. I think this team is good enough to win the Stanley Cup as it's constructed now. Adding another player this late in the campaign to a team having a historic season might disrupt the chemistry this group has developed over time. Roles that are now clearly defined would change. There would be an acclimation period. How long will that last? Ryan McDonagh was an extremely valuable pickup at last season's deadline that made Tampa Bay a better team for its postseason run. But has McDonagh said it wasn't until the offseason and going through training camp with the Bolts until he felt completely comfortable and integrated into his new team.
My thinking is the team should stand pat. Let's see if this group can finish the job they've started with such gusto.
Of course, if the Lightning decide to add a piece, I'd be fine with that too.
These are the answers you get when they team you're covering owns a 15-point lead in the NHL standings with 20 games remaining.

Can you tell us Martel's status as to waiver wire? Can you explain how/why he can't be moved down to Syracuse? (via @MarkSharkTampa)
Danick Martel would have to clear waivers if he were sent down to AHL Syracuse. Remember, the Lightning picked up Martel off waivers during training camp when Philadelphia tried to send him down to their AHL team in Lehigh Valley. BriseBois felt Martel could be a valuable addition to the Bolts' forward group. Maybe not this season - although he's filled in admirably when his name's been called - because of the incredible depth the Bolts have up front, but more with an eye toward the future.
That's why Martel's kind of been in limbo as a regular scratch this season. In a perfect world, he could get consistent playing time for Syracuse and then be brought up to the Lightning when needed, grooming him for a permanent role with the Bolts in the future. But the likelihood he gets claimed off waivers if he's sent down is high, and the Lightning don't want to risk losing him.
So he has to sit and wait his turn.
Recently we've seen Mathieu Joseph being sent down to Syracuse when an injury has cropped up on the Bolts blue line, necessitating the recall of Jan Rutta from the Crunch to serve as an emergency fill-in should another defenseman go down. Joseph doesn't need to clear waivers. He physically doesn't have to go to Syracuse, rather it's more of a paper move to satisfy the roster limits while the Lightning get to keep all of their assets, Martel included.

In your opinion what is the most incredible stat from this season? Team or individual. (via @StamToast)
This is a really good question because there are so many incredible Lightning stats this season to choose from.
- Nikita Kucherov recording 100 points in just 62 games
- A power play producing at a 29.8 percent clip, which would rank fourth all-time in NHL history
- A penalty kill that was one of the worst in the League last season but ranks second this season at 85.4 percent, just five-tenths of a point behind top-ranked Arizona
- A +81 goal differential that is the best in the NHL by 37 goals (Calgary is second at +44) and is the best goal differential in the NHL since Ottawa was +95 in 2005-06.
But, for me, the most mind-boggling stat is this: The Lightning have collected 47 wins through 62 games this season. No other NHL team in history has 47 or more wins though their first 62 games.
The Lightning are on pace to win 62 games. Only one other team in NHL history - the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings - has won 62 games, meaning the Lightning have a chance to win more games than any team ever in the NHL. With the parity that exists in the League these days, that win total is just an incredibly remarkable achievement.

Does Jon Cooper have the easiest job on the planet with the team he puts on the ice each night? (via @JoelJguinand76)
I could see why that might be the assumption considering the incredible depth this team has. Just plug in a player and watch them take off.
But in some respects, I think the job Jon Cooper has done this season might be his best ever coaching the Lightning.
Imagine telling a player like Ryan Callahan or Dan Girardi, established veterans in this league, they have to sit out a game for the good of the team because of the incredible depth. That's not an easy conversation, yet Cooper has sold players on how a rotation gets everyone a chance to play while keeping the team fresh for an extended playoff run.
Imagine getting every team's best shot night in and night out because you're the clear top dog in the League. Case in point, the Bolts' last game against Buffalo on Thursday. The Sabres had dropped three straight coming into Tampa, losing to the likes of the Rangers, Devils and Panthers, all teams out of a playoff spot. Yet the Sabres gave the Lightning all they could handle and played one of their best games of the season. After the contest, Buffalo players and head coach Phil Housley talked about how that was the kind of effort they needed to give every game if they were to get back into playoff position.
And yet, the Lightning still won, prevailing 2-1 in a shootout.
And then there's keeping a team as talented as Tampa Bay motivated through an 82-game regular season. Once the Lightning showed they would be a contender in the first month of the season, a lot of us wanted to fast forward through the regular season and get right to the playoffs. Ultimately, that's how this team will be judged: whether it can win a Stanley Cup. All of the regular season wins look good now but mean nothing once the playoff starts (well, other than for home-ice advantage purposes). It'd be easy for this team to mail it in every now and then, especially with such a comfortable lead in the standings.
This team appears as driven as ever to win, however. They own an 18-point lead in the division, but they want to push that cushion to 20. They give up two goals in a game they win 5-2, and instead of feeling satisfied with a three-goal victory, they want to eliminate the mistakes that led to allowing two goals.
This team has been incredibly motivated all season, and credit to Cooper and his coaching staff for providing the tools to tap into that motivation.

Who would you want us to play against in the first round of the playoffs? (via @WillyM79)
Selfishly, I'd like to see a first round matchup against Montreal. But that's only because I love the city of Montreal (the team hotel is the best in the League) and would relish the opportunity to spend a few days there. The playoff atmosphere at the Bell Centre is hard to beat too.
Pittsburgh would be fun, but the two teams clearly did not like each other during the regular season and not sure how physically beat up the Lightning would be following a first round matchup against the always dangerous Penguins.
For getting-out-of-the-first-round purposes, I think Columbus would probably be the best matchup. The Lightning swept the Blue Jackets for the second-straight season following a 5-1 win on Feb. 18. Tampa Bay outscored Columbus 17-3 over the three-game regular season series. Going back to last season, the Bolts own a +21 goal differential against the Blue Jackets.
Not saying Columbus would be an easy matchup, but at least based on regular season success, it would seem the Lightning have the Blue Jackets' number of late.