2018–19 Tampa Bay Lightning season

The 2018–19 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 27th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on December 16, 1991. The team clinched a playoff spot on March 8, 2019, when the Montreal Canadiens lost 8–2 to the Anaheim Ducks. This season marked the first time that Tampa won the Presidents' Trophy in franchise history, winning the Atlantic Division for the second consecutive year as well, their fourth division title overall. They also became the second team in league history to win 62 games, matching the record set by the 1995–96 Detroit Red Wings. Their record-setting season ended when they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was the first time in NHL history that a team that won the Presidents' Trophy got swept in the first round of the Playoffs. This was also the first time since 2014 that the Lightning were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round.
==Off-season==
===May===
On May 23, 2018, the Lightning's 2017–18 season ended when they were defeated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals. The loss was a 4-0 defeat at Amalie Arena.
On May 31, 2018, the Lightning announced that it was parting ways with assistant coaches Rick Bowness and Brad Lauer. Bowness had been an assistant since 2013. He was responsible for the defense and the penalty kill. Lauer had been a member of the Lighting's coaching staff since 2015.
===June===
On June 7, 2018, the Lightning announced the re-signing of defensive prospect Daniel Walcott to a one-year contract extension. Walcott spent the entire season with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL). Walcot appeared in 62-games, recording five goals and 16 points.
On June 12, 2018, the Lightning announced the re-signing of forward prospect Carter Verhaeghe to a one-year contract extension. Verhaeghe spent his season with the Crunch, where he played in 58 games and scored 17 goals and 48 points.
On June 13, 2018, the Lightning announced backup goaltender Peter Budaj had been traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Andy Andreoff. Andreoff has appeared in 159 NHL games over the last four seasons. During that time, he has 13 goals and 262 career hits.
On June 18, 2018, the Lighting announced the signing of Edward Pasquale to a one-year contract. Pasquale split his season in the AHL between the Syracuse Crunch and the Bakersfield Condors. He was originally acquired by the Lightning via trade with the Edmonton Oilers during the 2017–18 season.
On June 20, 2018, Victor Hedman won the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the 2017–18 NHL season. The award is given annually to the top defenseman that season, which is based upon the votes of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. Hedman was the first defenseman in Lightning history to win the award. Additionally, Hedman and Nikita Kucherov were named as First Team All-Stars for the season.
On June 22, 2018, the Lightning announced the re-signing of backup goaltender Louis Domingue to a two-year contract extension. Domingue went 7–3–1 over 11 starts with the Lightning. He was acquired by the Lightning during the 2017–18 season in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes.
On the same day, the Lightning named Jeff Halpern as an assistant coach. During the last two seasons, Halpern worked as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch. It was unknown at the time whether the Lightning would be hiring an additional assistant to replace the last remaining vacancy left by the departure of assistants Rick Bowness and Brad Lauer.
On June 24, 2018, the Lightning released the roster for its 2018 Development Camp Roster. The roster consisted of 27 players, which included six of the seven players selected in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Six players participating played for the Crunch last season. There were also five forwards participating in the camp as invitees. Notable camp attendees include Cal Foote, Connor Ingram, Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh.
On June 25, 2018, the Lightning issued qualifying offers to Adam Erne, Slater Koekkoek, J. T. Miller and Cedric Paquette, allowing the Lightning to retain those players' playing rights. These rights entail the right match any contract offered to those players after the free agency period begins or draft compensation if the team declines to match the contract offered to the player.
On June 26, 2018, the Lightning announced it had signed forward prospect Ross Colton to a two-year contract. Colton spent the past two seasons playing for the University of Vermont. During that time, Colton led Vermont in goals, scoring 28 goals and 50 points in 69 games. Colton was originally drafted by the Lightning in the fourth round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
It was announced Tom Kurvers had left the Lightning after ten years to become the new assistant general manager of the Minnesota Wild. The last seven years of his tenure with the team had been as a senior advisor to general manager Steve Yzerman. In that capacity, he was based out of Minnesota where he often was at the Wild's arena scouting for the Lightning.
The Lightning announced it had re-signed forward J. T. Miller to a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension. The contract carries a cap hit of $5.25 million per season. Miller skated in 19 games with the Lightning last season, scoring 10 goals and 18 points. Miller was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers during the 2017–18 season prior to the trade deadline.
Later that day, the Hockey Hall of Fame committee announced the members of the 2018 Hall of Fame class, with former Lightning captain Martin St. Louis announced as a first-ballot induction. St. Louis is the Lightning's record holder in assists (588), points (953), power-play points (300), shorthanded goals (28), shorthanded points (44), game-winning goals (64), overtime goals (10), playoff goals (33) and playoff points (68). He also won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy (two times), Ted Lindsay Award, NHL Plus-Minus Award, Lady Byng Trophy (three times) and the Stanley Cup while a member of the Lightning.
===July===
On July 1, 2018, the Lightning announced that it had signed Ryan McDonagh to a 7-year contract extension, which was valued at $47 million. McDonagh had the second highest ice time among Lightning players during the team's trip to the Eastern Conference Final. McDonagh was originally acquired by the Lightning in a trade at the deadline from the New York Rangers.
That same day the Lightning announced the signing of defenseman Cameron Gaunce to a one-year contract. Guance was originally a draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2008 draft. Over the course of his career he has appeared in 32 NHL games. Last season he skated in 67 games with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League.
On July 2, 2018, the Lightning announced the re-signing of defenseman Slater Koekkoek to a one-year contract extension. The contract was valued at $865,000. Koekkoek was originally selected by the Lightning in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Koekkoek had four goals and four assists last season for the Lightning in 35-games.
On July 10, 2018, the Lightning announced the re-signing of forward Nikita Kucherov to an eight-year contract extension. The contract is valued at $76 million with an annual cap hit of $9.5 million. The contract is the richest contract in franchise history. Kucherov led the team last season in points (100), goals (39), and assists (61). Kucherov was an NHL-All star last season and was named a first team all-star.
On July 11, 2018, the Lightning announced the re-signing of forward Adam Erne to a one-year contract extension. The contract is valued at $800,000. Last season Erne skated in 23-games with the Lightning, recording three goals and an assist. Erne missed the last half of the season and all of the playoffs due to a lower-body injury.
On July 12, 2018, the Lightning announced the hiring of assistant coach Derek Lalonde. Lalonde served as the head coach of the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League. Lalonde had previously worked with Lightning head coach Jon Cooper while he was the head coach of the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League.
===September===
On September 11, 2018, Steve Yzerman unexpectedly announced that he was resigning as General Manager after eight seasons, however, he was remaining with the team in an advisory role for the final year of his contract. Assistant General Manager Julien BriseBois replaced Yzerman as general manager. BriseBois had served as assistant general manager since 2010. In that capacity BriseBois also served as general manager of the Norfolk Admirals while they were the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate, and its current affiliate the Syracuse Crunch.
==Training camp==
===September===
On September 14, 2018, the Lightning placed defenseman Jake Dotchin on unconditional waivers with the purpose of terminating his contract. The team said it was due to a material breach of contract. It is believed that the team was unhappy with Dotchin's conditioning at the start of training camp. Dotchin's agent declined to comment, and said they would look to the CBA for any potential remedy.
On September 15, 2018, Jake Dotchin cleared waivers. With no team claiming Dotchin the Lightning can move forward in the process in terminating his contract.
On September 19, 2018, reports began to surface concerning Jake Dotchin. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that Dotchin showed up to camp with his body fat up to as high as 25 percent. Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie of TSN reported the BMI of Dotchin was unconfirmed, but that it was being reported that he showed up to training camp 30 pounds over his playing weight last season. Additionally, McKenzie reported that the National Hockey League Players' Association had become involved in the process. The dispute is set to be heard before an impartial arbitrator to determine whether the Lightning can terminate Dotchin's contract.
That same day the Lightning announced its first round of training camp cuts. All five of the Lightning's training camp invitees were part of the initial cuts. Additionally, the Lightning cut 2018 second-round pick Gabriel Fortier and seventh-round pick Radim Salda. Fortier will re-join the Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Fortier has played for the Drakkar the past two seasons.
On September 22, 2018, the Lightning claimed forward Danick Martel via waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers. Martel originally joined the Flyers as an undrafted free agent. Martel scored 20+ goals in each of his three seasons in the AHL playing for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Last season Martel made his NHL debut with the Flyers, which came over a 4-game stint with the team.
On September 23, 2018, the Lightning made its second round of roster cuts for training camp. The roster cuts brought the Lightning's roster down to 28-players. Of the cuts Gabriel Dumont and Michael Bournival saw limited action with the Lightning last season. Forwards Andy Andreoff, Dumont, Carter Verhaeghe, defenseman Cameron Gaunce, and goaltender Edward Pasquale have to pass through waivers for assignment to the Syracuse Crunch. Prospects Adam Erne, Mathieu Joseph, Alexander Volkov, and Erik Cernak are still with the team.
That same day the team announced that forward Tyler Johnson is considered day-to-day with a lower body injury. Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois stated that the team was optimistic that Johnson would be ready for the season opener against the Florida Panthers. However, he did concede that it was not a guarantee that Johnson would be ready for that game.
On September 30, 2018, the Lightning announced its third round of roster cuts. Defenseman Eric Cernak and forwards Alexander Volkov and Mitchell Stephens were assigned to the Crunch. The team has not made its official opening night roster announcement. However, it appears that newly acquired forward Danick Martel and 2015 4th round draft pick Mathieu Joseph have made the opening night roster.
===October===
On October 3, 2018, the Lightning announced its opening night roster. The forward group consists of Anthony Cirelli, Cory Conacher, Adam Erne, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Mathieu Joseph, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Danick Martel, J. T. Miller, Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette, Brayden Point, and Steven Stamkos. The defensemen are Braydon Coburn, Dan Girardi, Victor Hedman, Slater Koekkoek, Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Anton Stralman. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Louis Domingue are the Lightning's goaltending tandem.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Preseason===
2018 preseason game log: 4–3–0 (Home: 1–2–0; Road: 2–1–0; Neutral: 1–0–0)
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision 	Location 	Attendance	Record	Recap
1 	September 18	Carolina Hurricanes 	1–4 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	12,454 	0–1–0 	
2 	September 19	@ Carolina Hurricanes	1–6 	 	Pasquale 	PNC Arena 	6,007 	0–2–0 	
3 	September 21	@ Nashville Predators	5–1 	 	Domingue 	Bridgestone Arena	17,342 	1–2–0 	
4 	September 22	Nashville Predators 	5–2 	 	Ingram 	Amalie Arena 	14,457 	2–2–0 	
5 	September 25	Florida Panthers 	2–3 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	11,485 	2–3–0 	
6 	September 27	vs. Florida Panthers 	6–2 	 	Domingue 	Amway Center 	 	3–3–0 	
7 	September 29	@ Florida Panthers 	3–2 	 	Vasilevskiy	BB&T Center 	10,487 	4–3–0 	
===Regular season===
2018–19 regular season game log</div>	2018–19 regular season game log</div>	2018–19 regular season game log</div>	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
October: 8–2–1, 17 Points (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 3–1–1)
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision 	Location 	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
1 	October 6 	Florida Panthers 	2–1 	SO	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	1–0–0 	2 	
2 	October 11 	Vancouver Canucks 	1–4 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	1–1–0 	2 	
3 	October 13 	Columbus Blue Jackets 	8–2 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	2–1–0 	4 	
4 	October 16 	Carolina Hurricanes 	4–2 	 	Domingue 	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	3–1–0 	6 	
5 	October 18 	Detroit Red Wings 	3–1 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	4–1–0 	8 	
6 	October 20 	@ Minnesota Wild 	4–5 	OT	Vasilevskiy	Xcel Energy Center	19,080 	4–1–1 	9 	
7 	October 21 	@ Chicago Blackhawks 	6–3 	 	Domingue 	United Center 	21,012 	5–1–1 	11 	
8 	October 24 	@ Colorado Avalanche 	1–0 	 	Vasilevskiy	Pepsi Center 	16,753 	6–1–1 	13 	
9 	October 26 	@ Vegas Golden Knights 	3–2 	 	Vasilevskiy	T-Mobile Arena 	18,207 	7–1–1 	15 	
10 	October 27 	@ Arizona Coyotes 	1–7 	 	Domingue 	Gila River Arena 	13,623 	7–2–1 	15 	
11 	October 30 	New Jersey Devils 	8–3 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	8–2–1 	17 	
===Playoffs===
2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs	2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs	2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Eastern Conference First Round vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2) - Columbus wins series 4–0
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision 	Location 	Attendance	Series	Recap
1 	April 10 	Columbus Blue Jackets 	3–4 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	0–1 	
2 	April 12 	Columbus Blue Jackets 	1–5 	 	Vasilevskiy	Amalie Arena 	19,092 	0–2 	
3 	April 14 	@ Columbus Blue Jackets 	1–3 	 	Vasilevskiy	Nationwide Arena	19,224 	0–3 	
4 	April 16 	@ Columbus Blue Jackets 	3–7 	 	Vasilevskiy	Nationwide Arena	19,328 	0–4 	
==Player stats==
Final
===Skaters===
Regular season 
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	82	41	87	128	24	62
 	82	45	53	98 	4 	37
 	79	41	51	92 	27	28
 	70	12	42	54 	24	44
 	80	22	26	48 	8 	66
 	80	29	18	47 	15	28
 	75	13	34	47 	8 	30
 	82	9 	37	46 	38	37
 	82	18	22	40 	22	45
 	82	19	20	39 	24	34
 	64	8 	26	34 	4 	20
 	75	6 	26	32 	12	28
 	70	13	13	26 	5 	26
 	74	4 	19	23 	3 	34
 	65	7 	13	20 	10	40
 	80	13	4 	17 	7 	80
 	52	7 	10	17 	7 	14
 	47	2 	15	17 	12	8
 	58	5 	11	16 	25	58
 	62	4 	12	16 	5 	12
† 	14	0 	2 	2 	4 	4
 	9 	0 	2 	2 	3 	8
‡ 	9 	1 	0 	1 	0 	4
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	3 	7
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2
Playoffs 
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	4	0	3	3	–2	0
 	4	1	1	2	–8	2
 	4	1	1	2	–1	0
 	4	1	1	2	–4	0
 	4	0	2	2	0 	0
 	4	0	2	2	2 	0
 	3	0	2	2	–4	19
 	4	1	0	1	2 	6
 	4	1	0	1	–2	2
 	4	1	0	1	–3	0
 	4	1	0	1	–1	0
 	4	1	0	1	–5	5
 	4	0	1	1	–3	0
 	2	0	1	1	2 	0
 	4	0	0	0	–2	4
 	4	0	0	0	–6	2
 	4	0	0	0	–2	0
 	3	0	0	0	0 	2
 	2	0	0	0	0 	4
 	2	0	0	0	–2	10
===Goaltenders===
 Regular season 
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	53	53	3204	39	10	4	128	2.40	1713	.925	6	0	3	6
 	26	26	1561	21	5 	0	75 	2.88	812 	.908	0	0	1	4
 	3 	3 	182 	2 	1 	0	12 	3.96	102 	.909	0	0	0	0
 Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	4	4	236	0	4	15	3.83	104	.856	0	0	0	0
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Tampa Bay. Stats reflect time with Tampa Bay only.
‡Traded from Tampa Bay mid-season.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record
==Suspensions/fines==
Player 	Explanation 	Length 	Salary 	Date issued
Mikhail Sergachev	Fined for cross-checking Johan Larsson during the game against the Buffalo Sabres on January 12, 2019, at KeyBank Center. 	— 	$2,403.67 	January 13, 2019
Nikita Kucherov 	Fined for a dangerous trip on Scott Mayfield during the game against the New York Islanders on February 2, 2019, at Nassau Coliseum. 	— 	$5,000 	February 3, 2019
Yanni Gourde 	Suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head of Carolina Hurricanes' forward Jordan Staal on March 21, 2019, at PNC Arena.	2 games	$10,752.68	March 22, 2019
Nikita Kucherov 	Suspended for one game for boarding Columbus Blue Jackets' defenseman Markus Nutivaara on April 12, 2019, at Nationwide Arena. 	1 game 	— 	April 13, 2019
==Awards and honours==
===Awards===
Regular season
Player	Award 	Awarded
 	NHL Third Star of the Week 	November 5, 2018
 	NHL Third Star of the Week 	November 26, 2018
 	NHL Second Star of the Week	December 10, 2018
 	NHL Third Star of the Week 	December 24, 2018
 	NHL First Star of December 	January 2, 2019
 	NHL All-Star Game selection	January 2, 2019
 	NHL All-Star Game selection	January 2, 2019
 	NHL All-Star Game selection	January 5, 2019
 	NHL All-Star Game selection	January 8, 2019
 	NHL First Star of the Week 	February 18, 2019
 	NHL First Star of February 	March 1, 2019
 	NHL Second Star of the Week	March 25, 2019
 	Art Ross Trophy 	April 7, 2019
 	Ted Lindsay Award 	June 19, 2019
 	Hart Memorial Trophy 	June 19, 2019
 	Vezina Trophy 	June 19, 2019
 	First Team All-Star 	June 19, 2019
 	First Team All-Star 	June 19, 2019
 	Second Team All-Star 	June 19, 2019
 	NHL All-Rookie Team 	June 19, 2019
===Milestones===
Regular season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
Mathieu Joseph 	1st career NHL game 	October 7, 2018
Mathieu Joseph 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point	October 16, 2018
J. T. Miller 	200th career NHL point 	October 30, 2018
Tyler Johnson 	400th career NHL game 	November 1, 2018
Louis Domingue 	100th career NHL game 	November 4, 2018
Mathieu Joseph 	1st career NHL goal 	November 4, 2018
Mikhail Sergachev 	100th career NHL game 	November 10, 2018
Erik Cernak 	1st career NHL game 	November 13, 2018
Nikita Kucherov 	200th career NHL assist 	November 15, 2018
Brayden Point 	1st career NHL hat trick 	November 15, 2018
Erik Cernak 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point	November 19, 2018
Ryan McDonagh 	200th career NHL assist 	November 19, 2018
Dan Girardi 	200th career NHL assist 	November 25, 2018
Edward Pasquale 	1st career NHL game1st Career NHL win 	December 4, 2018
Steven Stamkos 	700th career NHL point 	December 10, 2018
Dan Girardi 	900th career NHL game 	December 18, 2018
Nikita Kucherov 	400th career NHL game 	December 18, 2018
Danick Martel 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point	December 18, 2018
Steven Stamkos 	700th career NHL game 	December 20, 2018
Yanni Gourde 	100th career NHL point 	December 29, 2018
Victor Hedman 	300th career NHL assist 	December 29, 2018
Andrei Vasilevskiy	100th career NHL win 	December 31, 2018
Nikita Kucherov 	400th career NHL point 	January 3, 2019
J. T. Miller 	400th career NHL game 	January 13, 2019
Brayden Point 	200th career NHL game 	January 30, 2019
Erik Cernak 	1st career NHL goal 	February 3, 2019
Ondrej Palat 	400th career NHL game 	February 5, 2019
Braydon Coburn 	900th career NHL game 	February 9, 2019
Victor Hedman 	400th career NHL point 	February 9, 2019
Alex Killorn 	100th career NHL goal 	February 19, 2019
Tyler Johnson 	300th career NHL point 	February 27, 2019
Brayden Point 	100th career NHL assist 	February 27, 2019
Alex Killorn 	500th career NHL game 	February 28, 2019
Adam Erne 	100th career NHL game 	March 1, 2019
Ryan McDonagh 	600th career NHL game 	March 11, 2019
Andrei Vasilevskiy	200th career NHL game 	March 14, 2019
Alex Killorn 	1st career NHL hat trick 	March 16, 2019
Ryan Callahan 	200th career NHL assist 	March 25, 2019
Anthony Cirelli 	100th career NHL game 	April 6, 2019
Playoffs
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
Erik Cernak 	1st career playoff game1st career playoff point1st career playoff assist	April 10, 2019
Adam Erne 	1st career playoff game 	April 10, 2019
Mathieu Joseph	1st career playoff game 	April 10, 2019
Jan Rutta 	1st career playoff game1st career playoff point1st career playoff assist	April 10, 2019
==Transactions==
The Lightning have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Anaheim DucksFuture considerations 	To Tampa Bay LightningMitch Hults 	
 	To Chicago BlackhawksSlater Koekkoek5th-round pick in 2019	To Tampa Bay LightningJan Rutta7th-round pick in 2019	
 	To Nashville PredatorsConnor Ingram 	To Tampa Bay Lightning7th-round pick in 2021 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Erik Condra 	to Dallas Stars 	1-year 	
 	Alex Gallant 	to Vegas Golden Knights 	1-year 	
 	Cameron Gaunce 	from Columbus Blue Jackets 	1-year 	
 	Chris Kunitz 	to Chicago Blackhawks 	1-year 	
 	Kevin Lynch 	from Syracuse Crunch (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Matthew Peca 	to Montreal Canadiens 	2-year 	
 	Andrej Sustr 	to Anaheim Ducks 	1-year 	
 	Mat Bodie 	to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	1-year 	
 	Jimmy Huntington	from Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) 	3-year 	
 	Edward Pasquale 	to Barys Astana (KHL) 	1-year 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player 	Team 	Ref
 	Danick Martel	from Philadelphia Flyers	
===Contract terminations===
Date	Player 	Via 	Ref
 	Jake Dotchin 	Termination 	
 	Jonne Tammela	Mutual termination	
===Retirement===
Date	Player	Ref
 	 	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	Louis Domingue 	2-year 	
 	Ross Colton 	2-year 	
 	J. T. Miller 	5-year 	
 	Ryan McDonagh 	7-year 	
 	Slater Koekkoek	1-year 	
 	Cedric Paquette	1-year 	
 	Nikita Kucherov	8-year 	
 	Adam Erne 	1-year 	
 	Cory Conacher 	1-year 	
 	Yanni Gourde 	6-year 	
 	Gabriel Fortier	3-year 	
 	Ryan Lohin 	2-year 	
 	Jan Rutta 	1-year 	
 	Cameron Gaunce 	1-year 	
 	Braydon Coburn 	2-year 	
 	Daniel Walcott 	1-year 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the Tampa Bay Lightning's selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality 	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2 	59 	Gabriel Fortier	LW 	Canada 	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
3 	90 	Dmitry Semykin 	D 	Russia 	Kapitan Stupino (MHL)
4 	121 	Alexander Green	D 	United States 	Cornell University (ECAC)
5 	152 	Magnus Chrona 	G 	Sweden 	Nacka HK (J18 Elit)
6 	183 	Cole Koepke 	LW 	United States 	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
7 	2061	Radim Salda 	D 	Czech Republic	Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
7 	214 	Ty Taylor 	G 	Canada 	Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
Notes:
# The Los Angeles Kings' seventh-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on May 31, 2017, that sent Bokondji Imama to Los Angeles in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
==References==
|}
Category:Tampa Bay Lightning seasons
Tampa Bay Lightning
Category:Presidents' Trophy seasons