Lightning Land Within Top Five Of Front Office Confidence Rankings

The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn released his annual front office confidence rankings, which take the results from the opinions of The Athletic subscribers. 

Each front office is graded in six categories: roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision.

The Tampa Bay Lightning ranked within the top five once again, landing at No.4

The Lightning dropped one spot from No.3, but that was due to the aggressiveness of the Carolina Hurricanes, jumping from No.8.

The public gave the Lightning an A- score in roster building, an A in cap management, a C+ in draft and development, an A- in trading, an A in free agency, and an A- in vision, averaging out to an A-.  

The fan base rated the Lightning better than the public, handing out an A grade in roster building, an A in cap management, a B+ in draft and development, an A in trading, an A+ in free agency, and an A- in vision for an average grade of an A. 

The public ranked the Lightning sixth in front office confidence, while the fan base had the Lightning at No.2. 

Here are some comments left by subscribers of The Athletic: 

“Julian (BriseBois) is a genius most days. Yes, there have been misses — Tanner Jeannot — but this fan base has come to rely on the GM’s maneuvering of the parts. Hope we keep him and Coach Cooper for a long time.”

“Absolutely love how aggressive the front office is. Never afraid to take a risk. Sometimes it’s a swing and miss, other times it’s a home run. At least they’re always going for it.”

Finishing ahead of the Lightning were the Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars and the Hurricanes. It's hard to argue with the Lightning ranking ahead of any of those teams due to recent success. The Lightning dominated a three-year stretch, winning two Stanley Cups and reaching another final, but since then, the Lightning have gone three consecutive years without a series win. The Panthers have won back-to-back Stanley Cups, and the Stars and Hurricanes have gone to multiple Conference Finals.

Despite that, the Lightning remain not only competitive, but a constant threat to go on a long run. They've signed their best players to cost-efficient contracts and have been keen on adding young players to their roster to prolong their window.