The Tampa Bay Lightning established themselves as a dynasty in the early 2020s, but it took some growing pains to get there. After capturing the President's Trophy in 2018-19 as the league's best regular-season team — and winning a ridiculous 62 of 82 games — the Bolts were widely expected to come out of the Eastern Conference for the first time in four years.

Instead, Tampa was shockingly swept in the first-round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, to this day one of the biggest upsets in NHL history. But instead of folding, the Lightning would go on to win their next 11 consecutive playoff rounds, winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and coming within two victories of a three-peat. Despite losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Finals, the dynasty had been born.

Fast forward to 2024-25 and the Lightning haven't been out of the first round since . Tampa lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games in Round 1 in 2023 and were defeated by the eventual champion Florida Panthers in five last year.

Despite a couple of disappointing results, the superstar core is still intact, and the roster is hungry to get back to the top of the mountain after a few early exits. Here's why Jon Cooper's team has a legitimate chance to return to hockey immortality come June.

Lighting boast insane 1-2 punch of Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy

The main thing going for the Bolts ahead of the postseason is two of the greatest Russian players of all time in Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy. This team is going to go as far as No. 86 and No. 88 will take them.

Kucherov led the playoffs in scoring both years the Lightning won the Stanley Cup, racking up 34 points in 25 games in 2019-20 and following it up with 32 points in 23 tilts the next year. And although they weren't able to go back-to-back-to-back, he managed 27 points in 23 games in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs .

After snapping to the tune of 144 points in 81 games last year, the 31-year-old has been outrageous again in 2024-25, currently second in league scoring with 105 points in 68 games. He's just three points back of Nathan MacKinnon, who has played five more games.

Vasilevskiy was masterful between the pipes while Kucherov was doing damage offensively, posting a ridiculous 1.90 goals-against average in both of the Cup runs, along with a .927 save percentage in 2020 and an even better .937 SV% the next year. Although he's struggled a little bit in each of the last two postseasons, he looks to be back to his old self.

In the 2024-25 regular-season, Vasi has managed an excellent 2.18 GAA and .921 SV%, while winning 35 of his 57 appearances. If he can find his early 2020s playoff form, and Kucherov can continue piling up points, that'll go a long way for this team's 2025 championship hopes.

Tampa Bay shored up depth at NHL trade deadline

Along with proven superstars in Kucherov and Vasilevskiy, and veteran star forwards Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel — the latter who won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017 — general manager Julien BriseBois made this roster even better at the March 7 NHL trade deadline .

BriseBois made a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Kraken, bringing back Yanni Gourde , who was part of both championship teams, and adding Oliver Bjorkstrand for good measure. Although it cost a lot, the Lightning boast one of the best top-nines in the league. Kucherov, Guentzel and Point is ferocious, while the second line of Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul can score goals and also shut down other teams' best players.

The third line of Gourde, Bjorkstrand and Gage Goncalves has also been solid in a short sample size, and can also effectively play offense and defense. This could be the best offensive unit the Bolts have had since 2022, and will be crucial to their hopes of making a deep run.

Jon Cooper is one of the best coaches in the league

Finally, Cooper has has emerged into one of the premier coaches in the National Hockey League. He seemed to make all of the right decisions in Tampa Bay's three consecutive Stanley Cup runs, and he's been tabbed by Team Canada for multiple different events.

Most recently, he was named head coach for Canada at the electric 4 Nations Face-Off. He somewhat controversially trusted Jordan Binnington between the pipes, and the 2019 Stanley Cup champion came through. Binnington was masterful for his country as Canada beat the United States in overtime in one of the most exciting games in hockey history.

Cooper has also already been named Canada's coach for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, and it's no secret that there are a ton of excellent Canadian coaches across the National Hockey League. The 57-year-old will go down as one of the better coaches in the history of the sport, and he's been involved with the Lightning since back in 2012-13. Besides the three Cup runs, he's also led the team to a Finals appearance in 2015, a series they would lose in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks dynasty.

The Lightning have star power at all three positions in Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Vasilevskiy, they've shored up the depth with a couple of savvy trade deadline adds, and they boast one of the greatest coaches in the game in Cooper.

What's holding Tampa back in 2024-25 is the fact that the path out of the Eastern Conference is a gauntlet. If they don't win the division, they'll have to either play the defending champion Panthers, or a strong Maple Leafs team, in Round 1. Presumably, it would be the other squad on the other end of the rink if they can get through what would be a gruelling first-round series.

If Vasilevskiy keeps playing the way he's playing, and Kucherov continues his dominance, this is going to be a tough team to beat. There is a ton of parity in the NHL today, but the Lightning have as good a chance as any team to come out of the Eastern Conference in 2024-25. And if that happens, they'll have a chip on their shoulder — and a ton of experience to draw on — after losing to the Avs in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.