Tampa Bay Lightning general manager and vice president of hockey operations Julien BriseBois on Monday repeatedly spoke about the faith he holds in his NHL roster during his annual midseason media availability.
BriseBois spoke on nearly every aspect of the organization, touching on strong analytics for his NHL group, fast starts for first-year Bolts, the Lightning prospect pool, the push for the playoffs and the quickly approaching NHL trade deadline.
There was plenty to talk about. Here are a few of the takeaways from BriseBois’ midseason check-in:
Lightning completing homework ahead of 2025 Trade Deadline
The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline is set for March 7, and the Lightning are well into planning.
BriseBois noted the upcoming date as one of two highlighted chances to improve an NHL team, the other being the NHL Draft.
“We're on the lookout. We'll see what's out there. If anything makes sense that I think improves our chances of winning a Stanley Cup, we're going to be making that trade if it's out there,” he said. “From a league standpoint, it is still early. The trade deadline is March 7, so it's still a ways away.”
The upcoming Four Nations tournament offers a two-week break for all teams to assess their needs, and a tight Eastern Conference playoff race—each of the top 14 teams in the East are playing at least .500 hockey.
“Most teams are kind of still in it,” BriseBois said, “so there aren't that many teams that are right now throwing in the towel and willing to trade players for futures, which is probably what we'd be looking to do. We'd be trying to add to our team without taking away from our team. I think as we get closer to the deadline, there will probably be more opportunities available to do that."
BriseBois described the team as “aggressive” in its approach to save money on the salary cap this season—the Lightning have sent players up and down from AHL Syracuse on non-game days this season while also utilizing a tighter roster of 12 forwards and six defensemen for the past several weeks after losing defenseman JJ Moser to a long term injury.
“The difference between this year and years' past is at the trade deadline it won't necessarily have to be dollar in for dollar out or dollar out for dollar in,” the GM said. “We have accrued some cap space. We will continue to try to accrue as much as we can between now and the deadline to make it so that there might be more opportunities available to us to add a player.”
Playoff race tight, but BriseBois likes team's process
BriseBois said his team has improved since a year ago.
“All in all, it’s a better team,” he said before praising the group’s work ethic.
“I think the number one thing I like about our team is its work ethic and its competitiveness. … When we're down in games, it never feels like the guys have quit,” BriseBois said. “There doesn't seem to be any mountain that our guys don't believe they can surmount. So if anything, it's the competitive spirit of the group that I really like.”
After a busy January in which the Lightning hold a 6-7-1 record prior to Tuesday’s game, BriseBois pointed to several numbers that show his group’s strength:
- The Lightning ranked third in the league for goal differential (+35) on Monday.
- Tampa Bay’s 3.54 goals-per-game rating leads the NHL.
- Tampa Bay is top 10 in goals allowed after ranking 22nd in 2023-24.
- The team ranks seventh in 5v5 goals-for-percentage after ranking 25th last season.
- Since Nov. 1, the Lightning power play and penalty kill are both best in the NHL.
Those data points, BriseBois said, indicate they are due for “positive regression”.
"The toughest part of our schedule is behind us. I think two days of rest here is going to do our players a world of good. We have a number of home games coming up in the second half of the season, that's going to help as well. And we've always been a process over outcome mentality. That's what we've always preached is process over outcome. And I think this season if we stick with the process, the results will come.”
The Lightning just finished a stretch of 14 games in 24 days, multiple travel obstacles and four sets of back-to-back games.
Tampa Bay sat in the final wild card position with a 26-19-3 record on Monday, good for 55 standings points. With a 3-9-0 record in the Atlantic Division this season, the team still sees opportunity for growth in its schedule ahead.
"We could have the same record overall, but if we had done a better job within our division, we'd be higher up in the standings. So we're well aware of the importance of those games. Luckily for us, we have a number of them coming up still, and we will have to take advantage of them if we want to keep munching points, secure ourselves a playoff spot and hopefully be as well positioned as possible within our standings.”
A look at the Lightning pipeline and prospects aiming for jobs
Lightning youngsters are showing promise.
Tampa Bay’s prospects have caught the attention of the general manager who was central to drafting them to the Lightning organization.
“If we don’t have a lot of first-round picks, we don’t have a lot of second-round picks, it’s harder to infuse the pipeline with high-end skill because that’s where you’re gonna find high-end skill. That’s where getting guys like (Conor) Geekie, getting guys like (Emil) Lilleberg, getting guys like (JJ) Moser that are still really young, early 20s and already are helping us at the NHL level helps for sure. It makes players like Isaac Howard, Ethan Gauthier and others—Connor Kurth is having another good season as well—all the more important to our pipeline because we don’t have the volume of those higher-end guys.”
Howard in particular has put all of NCAA Division I hockey on alert. The Michigan State junior leads the country in both goals (20) and points (39) and is a nominee for the 2025 Hobey Baker Award, given to the top NCAA men's hockey player.
Howard was the team’s first round draft pick in 2022, 31st overall. BriseBois watched Howard play last weekend and said he can already notice the 20-year-old forward’s growth since being drafted by the team.
“I’ve seen Isaac on video a lot this year and I could see he’d taken a step. But seeing it live, it was impressive. Even meeting with him after the game, like, you can tell he’s spending time in the gym. He’s got the body of an NHL man now. And not to any fault of his before, just physical maturity, young guy. There’s a little more pop in his skating, and his play has really evolved,” BriseBois said of Howard.
“His two-way play is much better, his competitiveness and battles, being able to win battles because now he’s physically stronger, being able to make more plays through checks, these were the things we told him he needed to continue to work on, and he’s worked on them. Props to him for putting in the work, to Adam Nightingale and his staff at Michigan State. They’ve done a great job with him, helping him develop and help him realize his potential. So he’s trending really positively.”
Kurth, a sixth-round pick in 2022, is a point-per-game player for the University of Minnesota in 28 games this year.
Ethan Gauthier was the team’s second-round pick, 37th overall, from the 2023 draft.
He is also having a strong season, his with Drummondville in the QMJHL. The 20-year-old forward competed for Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Championship tournament.
“That was a big thing for him (Gauthier) to make that World Junior team. That was an objective of his going into the season. He had a great start to the season, earned his spot there,” BriseBois said. “Unfortunately for us Canadians, the team didn’t do as well as we had probably hoped, but he fulfilled his role on that team very well.”
