By John Carlson knows how to make the right play. The bigger question for the Lightning is who finishes it. After years of feeding Alex Ovechkin in Washington, Carlson now joins a Tampa Bay power play searching for the shooting threat Darren Raddysh provided on Nikita Kucherov’s passes.
John Carlson knows how to run a power play. For years in Washington, he could move the puck and let Alex Ovechkin finish. In Tampa Bay, the question is different: who takes that shot? Darren Raddysh gave Nikita Kucherov a dangerous shooting option. And vice versa. Now the Lightning have to find another.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may have won their preseason matchup against Nashville, but the game offered an early look at a much bigger question: how exactly will Carlson fit into Tampa Bay’s power play?
Carlson can make the play – but who finishes it?
Carlson is an elite offensive defenseman with years of experience quarterbacking a dangerous power play. But that does not necessarily make him the shooting option Tampa Bay needs.
That distinction became noticeable against Nashville.
Kucherov did get the puck to Carlson, but the resulting shots either went into traffic, were blocked, or missed the net. The issue was not simply whether Carlson was willing to shoot. It was whether putting him in that role maximized what he does best. The puck simply didn’t get to the net.
Carlson’s decision-making with the puck has long been one of his strengths. In Washington, he did not have to be the player finishing every sequence. He could read the penalty kill, distribute the puck, and find Ovechkin, one of hockey’s most dangerous finishers.
No Ovechkin is waiting for Carlson in Tampa.
And that creates an interesting problem for Jon Cooper, who didn’t give Hedman or anyone else on that unit a chance.
The Lightning have spent years building their power play around clearly defined weapons. Steven Stamkos gave Tampa Bay the devastating one-timer from the left circle. More recently, Darren Raddysh became an effective shooting option from the point – particularly when Kucherov found him with space.
That Kucherov-to-Raddysh connection mattered. Raddysh was not simply moving the puck back to Kucherov or looking for another pass. He could finish the play himself, giving penalty killers another shot they had to respect.
Carlson brings something different.
He can certainly shoot, but his greatest value may come from what happens before the shot: making the right decision and delivering the puck to the player in position to finish.
That worked particularly well in Washington because Carlson had Ovechkin.
So who becomes that player in Tampa Bay?
The Lightning tested a group that included Carlson, Kucherov, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Anthony Cirelli.
Kucherov remains the obvious playmaker. Point can finish around the net. Hagel brings speed, pressure, and puck-retrieval ability. Carlson can distribute from the blue line. But he isn’t Raddysh. The comparison will come to mind until (and if) the Lightning coaches figure it out.
But Tampa Bay still needs someone opponents fear when the puck arrives on his stick.
That question stood out even more considering the opposition. Nashville’s preseason lineup included players fighting for NHL jobs along with players with AHL and ECHL experience, while Tampa Bay dressed several established NHL players.
Yet the Lightning barely escaped with the win.
Preseason results themselves mean little. Coaches experiment with combinations, veterans work their way into game condition, and prospects are evaluated. But how a team creates offense – particularly on special teams – can reveal far more than the final score.
For Tampa Bay, the question isn’t whether Carlson can play on the power play. His career has already answered that question.
The bigger issue is whether the Lightning are asking Carlson to be something he isn’t. Why wasn’t Hedman there? Obviously, his chemistry with the group is undeniable.
Trying to turn Carlson into another Raddysh – or expecting one player to recreate the shooting threat Tampa Bay once had with Stamkos – may not be the solution. Carlson’s ability to make the right read could ultimately improve Tampa Bay’s power play, but those decisions still need a dangerous finisher on the other end.
Carlson needs someone to find. Kucherov needs multiple threats so defenders cannot anticipate where the puck is going. And Tampa Bay needs a shot that forces penalty killers to expand their coverage.
Against Nashville, that formula was not there yet.
Sweet moments before the puck dropped
There were also a few sweet moments before the game.
Brandon Hagel and Ryan McDonagh took time during warmups to toss pucks over the glass to young fans, creating a couple of special moments for kids who came to see their Lightning favorites up close.
It was a small gesture, but for the kids reaching for those pucks, probably one of the biggest moments of the night.
Once the game started, however, the focus returned to what Tampa Bay is trying to build.
One preseason game is far too early to judge the Lightning’s new power play. It is enough, though, to identify the question Cooper now has to answer.
