It had to happen sometime.

The Tampa Bay Lightning went to the Stanley Cup Final three years in a row, a run of success that probably won't be replicated anytime soon. But teams get old, they lose talent to attrition, and eventually they start making bets in an attempt to maintain what they've had that just don't end up paying off.

Plus, in all the chaos of the standard first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, eventually the bounces just don't go your way.

But now the Lightning look into a real and serious abyss for the first time in quite awhile, and one imagines they're not going to like what looks back.

They have 15 players signed for next season, and only two restricted free agents to sign. But here's the problem: Six of those players have trade restrictions in place, though many of them a