Following his team’s first-round exit to Ottawa in the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella said his team needed to “re-tool.”

His team certainly did that in net, parting with John Grahame as well as defensemen Darryl Sydor and Pavel Kubina and forward Fredrik Modin.

Tampa’s replacement in net will be veteran Marc Denis, who has been languishing behind a pitiful Columbus defense since 2000. Denis will finally get a chance to show what he can do with a solid team in front of him, and some teams might be quietly worried about that.

The Lightning also brought in veterans Luke Richardson, Filip Kuba and Andy Delmore to complete their blue line. Kuba played top minutes in Minnesota, but Richardson’s best days are behind him, and Delmore only played 7 NHL games last season. Tampa does have seven proven NHL defenseman, but someone will have to step up on the Lightning blueline into a top four role. It may be the second-year player Paul Ranger. 

Most of the team’s offensive production will be back, but the team will miss Modin, and didn’t get much to fill his void.

Forward Evgeny Artyukhin, who has fallen out of favor with management, decided to sign in Russia rather than remain with Tampa. Another forward, Dmitry Afanasenkov, was publicly challenged by Lightning general manager Jay Feaster after collecting just 15 points in 68 games.

In fact, after the team’s top two forward lines, Tampa is woefully thin at their third and fourth lines.

Ex-Atlanta Thrasher Andreas Karlsson, who hasn’t played in the league since 2001-02, will fight for a spot on the team, as will left wing Nikita Alexeev, who returns from Russia after playing for the Lightning from 2001-2003.

Certainly a major reason for the Lightning front-loading their offensive talent and dumping some of their defensive depth is their salary cap situation. The team has more than $20 million tied up in its big three players, Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis.

The usual suspects will be back on offense for the Lightning, and they may have found the rock they were clearly missing in net last season. That alone should make them solid contenders for the postseason.

Still, the team appears weak beyond their top two offensive lines, and their defense also took a step backwards. The Lightning will have to address those areas of concern if they want to again raise the Stanley Cup in 2006-07.

Key Additions:  G Marc Denis, D Filip Kuba, D Luke Richardson, D Andy Delmore, C Andreas Karlsson, LW Nikita Alexeev

Key Departures:  LW Fredrik Modin, D Pavel Kubina, G John Grahame, D Darryl Sydor, RW Evgeny Artyukhin

Three Breakout Players:

C Ryan Craig: Craig didn’t join the big club until midway through December, but once he got there, he made a major impression, netting 28 points in 48 games. The Lightning will be looking for offensive production to make up for the loss of Fredrik Modin, and Craig could be the guy. It wouldn’t be a stretch to expect around 25 goals and 50-60 points from him in his second year, which would go a long way to replacing Modin’s numbers.

D Paul Ranger: With the departure of top-four defensemen Pavel Kubina and Darryl Sydor, someone will have to step in and fill that ice time. It could very well be Ranger, who posted solid and consistent numbers for the Lightning in his rookie year. He also showed a decent scoring touch, dishing out 17 assists. He can only improve in his second full year.

G Marc Denis: Although he’s been in the league for quite some time now, Denis is finally getting a chance to start behind a solid defensive club. Durability and consistency, two things the Lightning were missing last season, shouldn’t be an issue with Denis, who started a mind-boggling 77 games for Columbus in 2002-03. League beware: the Lightning should play a lot more confident with him in net.