BriseBois gives annual mid-season media address

With the Tampa Bay Lightning just past the halfway point of the 2022-23 regular season, Bolts general manager Julien BriseBois met with members of the media on Tuesday and offered his perspective on the first half of the year, the upcoming trade deadline and more.

Through 41 games this season, the Lightning's points percentage sat at .671. At the halfway point of last year, it was also .671. The year before that, it was .670, and the year prior, it was .656.
So, what does that tell BriseBois? It's obvious.
The team has been tremendously consistent. And in all three of those aforementioned seasons, the Bolts made it to the Stanley Cup Final.
"It tells me that we're just as much of a Stanley Cup contender this year as we were the last three years, and we shouldn't treat it any differently," BriseBois said. "We have an all-world goalie, some all-world 'D,' good depth at the 'D' position. Our center line is really strong. We've got scoring on the wings. Our elite players are having really good seasons. We have a really strong coaching staff.
"It's a veteran group that's done it before, so we know they can do it, because they've done it time and time again, both the players and the coaching staff."
BriseBois has been pleased with the first half of a season that has the Lightning sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division and tied for fifth in the NHL in points percentage.
"We're in a good spot," said BriseBois. "I'd be lying to you if I said anything different. We have a good team with really good players. Really strong coaching staff.
"The group, as a whole, is really mature. They know what needs to be done. They go in. They come in every day. They get it done. And they put themselves in a position to be successful and win a lot of hockey games.
"That's what we've been able to do so far and hopefully we can keep doing that in the second half of the season."
With the NHL trade deadline 38 days away, BriseBois said trade talks have been pretty quiet across the league. In fact, he said it's been really quiet, "like, crickets."
But BriseBois acknowledged that history shows more teams will inevitably become sellers as we get closer to March 3. For Tampa Bay, it won't be easy to make a deal with limited cap space and draft capital. As of Tuesday, the Lightning have about $719,000 of cap space. The league minimum salary is $750,000, so if the Bolts strike a deal, there will have to be money going out for any money to come in.
"It's going to have to be cap hit in, cap it out, same as the last few years," BriseBois said. "And the other difference with us this year is that we've already used a lot of draft capital to build the team we have now.
"So, we don't have a first round pick this year. We don't have a first round pick next year. We're missing a second. We're missing a third. So, we have less draft capital on top of that to go out and acquire a player.
"So, I am managing expectations by saying all this. I've done that every year, try to manage expectations, and we've been very fortunate the last few years. We've been able to make different moves that I think have helped our group and pushed it forward.
"We're going to be on the lookout for that again this year, because I do believe we're a Stanley Cup contender and anything we can do to push this team over the top, I think it's my duty to do that.
"At the same time, I have no cap space, no draft capital. So, I think if we're going to do something, it's going to be more in the Nick Paul type of trade where we trade a player and get a player and that player is a good fit for us and improves the value of our collective, more so than a big splash or a bigger splash where we're trading a bunch of first round picks. I don't have any, so that would be my mindset leading up to the deadline."
Even with limited cap space, Lightning fans have seen BriseBois execute some world-class upgrades via trade over the past several years. There was Barclay Goodrow, Blake Coleman, David Savard, Nick Paul, Brandon Hagel - the list goes on and on. It's incredibly impressive and, similar to how Jon Cooper has never won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach, it's really unbelievable that BriseBois has yet to win the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.
But that's not what matters to BriseBois. All that matters is winning and capitalizing on the opportunity at hand.
"We need to make the most of that opportunity, because it doesn't happen very often that you're going to have this much talent, and you have to make the most of that opportunity," said BriseBois. "So, I think going into this year, I felt like we were set up to be a Stanley Cup contender and I wanted us to have no regret when it's all said and done.
"Let's capitalize on the opportunity that we have this season to hopefully go on another magical run. That's my thought. We have a lot going for us. Let's make the most of it while we can."
With the salary cap world that every NHL team is forced to live in, players will come and go. On the back end, the Bolts lost two huge contributors in Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta this summer. They were also without Zach Bogosian until mid-November after the big defenseman had offseason shoulder surgery.
With that, adjustments had to be made. Mikhail Sergachev has been thrusted into a bigger role. Ian Cole was added in free agency. Nick Perbix, albeit unexpectedly, has made an extraordinary impact.
With all of that change, an adjustment period was expected. With the speed of the game being faster than it probably ever has, a lot of on-ice decisions simply have to be made on instinct. There isn't enough time to think about what you need to do with the puck and then do it. It has to be bang-bang.
As time has gone on, players on the back end have gained chemistry and the overall team defense has shown immense improvement from where it was in the early parts of the season. Breakouts are cleaner. Turnovers are less frequent. Chemistry has grown.
"I think going in, we anticipated that there was going to be an adjustment period, because when you have had longstanding team members who played big minutes like Ryan McDonagh and Ondrej Palat and Jan Rutta, who'd been with us for a while, and they are no longer on the team, you are losing their skill set on the ice," said BriseBois. "Obviously, you're losing their influence on team dynamics, on and off the ice. But you're also losing their knowledge of their teammates and their teammates' knowledge of them.
"And what I mean by that is, once you have those reps over time, you are able to anticipate what your teammates are going to do on the ice and they're willing to read off of you as well, because they can anticipate what you're going to do. And that knowledge allows you to play at a faster pace. The speed of execution is greater because everyone's reading off each other. And you can't expedite that process.
"Now, we had all new players coming in and it kind of shuffled our D-pairs. And we were going to need time to build that knowledge base, so that we could trust each other on the ice and play fast. It took a period of time that was probably within the range of what we would have expected. Could have been faster. Could have been shorter. But I would say from about December on, we've really hit our stride there for a stretch and have been playing much better, because now guys kind of know each other.
"They know each other's tendencies. The new guys know where they fit in. The guys that are coming back know where these new players fit in and how to play with them, and we've been able to play with more pace and our quality of execution has gone up.
"We knew it was going to be an adjustment. It was an adjustment. And I'm glad I think those days are behind us now."
As for the additions to the back end, BriseBois was asked about Cole and Perbix, both of whom he has been pleased with. When Cole signed with the Lightning this summer, the team was getting a veteran player with a wealth of experience, not to mention the steady defenseman already has two Stanley Cup rings. He's paired strongly with McDonagh's former partner in Erik Cernak, forming a duo that has proven to be strong defensively and tough to play against.
"Ian Cole has been a really strong contributor for us," BriseBois said. "He gets really hard minutes. Of late, he's been paired with Erik Cernak, kind of in a shutdown pair. [He's been] used a lot in the penalty kill and has done a really good job for us in those areas.
"So, we're really happy that he decided to join our group, and he's made us a better hockey team, so I'm glad he's here."
Meanwhile, Perbix has slotted in nicely on a pair with Sergachev, who is averaging 23:57 of ice time per game, the most of his career, in his expanded role. Perbix was a pleasant surprise for Tampa Bay's coaches and management group when he had a strong training camp prior to the start of the season. Now an NHL regular, his poise with the puck and ability to quickly adjust to the speed of the game has been remarkable.
In fact, the rookie's game has been so impressive that it prompted the Lightning to sign him to a two-year contract extension in January with a team-friendly AAV of $1.125 million.
"I think we didn't discuss Nick Perbix much leading into the season because we didn't expect him to be here, if we're being candid," BriseBois explained. "Then, he had a really good training camp. Then, when in Syracuse, we had an injury opportunity to call him up, and he did really well and has been here since.
"What I see is his ability to adapt to the competition and make the adjustments to be an effective player. The skill set is really good, but the way he sees the game and the way he adapts to the level of competition has been really impressive. That's probably why he's been able to kind of expedite the timeline on becoming an NHL player.
"He went to Syracuse at the end of last season. You never know how players are going to adapt to that league. It's a very demanding league and the level of play, the pace - it's significantly greater than what you're going to see in college, and he adapted to that rather quickly.
"Then, he did a good job adapting to the level of play in training camp here. And since we've called him up, he's done a really good job adapting to the quality of play here.
"So, looking at the toolbox, looking at how good he's been at adapting to the pace and handling the pace, I think he's only going to get better. And that was the thought process behind locking him up.
"We have very limited cap space next season. We'll deal with next season, next season, but this was a player that we could see being an important player for us next season that we could lock up now at a cap number that worked for us, so we did."
Another player the Bolts will be hopeful to lock into a long-term contract is one of last year's trade deadline acquisitions, Brandon Hagel. The speedy, tenacious forward has played a huge role for Tampa Bay this season, forechecking like a dog on a bone and leading the NHL in takeaways.
The 24-year-old forward is already up to 39 points in 45 games with 18 goals and 21 assists. He ranks fourth on the team in goals and points, while ranking sixth in assists. His plus-12 rating is tied with Ian Cole for the team lead. The best part? He's doing it all at a $1.5 million cap hit.
The Lightning already have Hagel locked in for next year before he becomes a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. From there, BriseBois is hopeful that they will be able to strike a deal to keep him in Bolts blue.
"I would hope so," said BriseBois when asked if he foresees a long-term contract for Hagel. "I think, because he a restricted free agent in the summer of '24, he'll still be two years away from unrestricted free agency at that point. That gives us time to work with him and find solutions to be able to keep him long term, but we'll deal with that in due time.
"Right now, we're focused on this season. Let's make sure we don't leave anything on the table this year. Let's make sure we make the most of this opportunity and have no regrets when it's all said and done."
BriseBois also offered an update on Rudolfs Balcers, who is recovering from an upper-body injury sustained vs. St. Louis back in late November. He recently got back on the ice and skated in a few practices with the Bolts before being sent to AHL Syracuse for a conditioning stint.
"He still has two games of eligibility on his conditioning stint, and we'll reevaluate after that," BriseBois explained. "So, he's going to play Friday and Saturday with Syracuse and then we're going on a break anyway for a week.
"We'll see where he is health-wise after those two games and see if he gets a medical clearance. I would expect him to, and then based on what happens between now and then, we'll make a decision as to how we manage the roster."
If and when the Lightning bring Balcers back up to the big club, some cap space would have to be created, which BriseBois said is the biggest challenge currently.
Tampa Bay doesn't have a lot of cap space, nor do they have much draft capital. Striking a deal at the trade deadline would be difficult, but it has been that way over the past several seasons. It comes with the territory of being a Stanley Cup contender.
Yet BriseBois has worked the deadline masterfully and improved the roster year after year. Could he do it again this season? We'll have to wait and see. No GM is going to divulge their deadline strategy to the media, but BriseBois was willing to share that if the Bolts are able to make a trade, a player that defends well and makes Tampa Bay a harder team to play against could potentially move the needle.
"It could be different types of players," said BriseBois. "I think, generally speaking, I'd be looking at what makes us a harder team to play against. Help defend and make us a harder team to play against.
"That's probably as specific as I can get right now."
Time will tell if BriseBois decides to make a deal with another team. But in a situation filled with uncertainty, if there's one thing that is indisputable, it's that Lightning coaches, players and fans wouldn't want anyone else making the decisions.