When superstar winger Steven Stamkos suffered a knee injury in mid-November, it shouldn't have ended the Tampa Bay Lightning's season.
After all, the Lightning were just coming off a run to the Eastern Conference finals, and the only game in which Stamkos played for the entire playoff stretch was Game 7 of the conference finals.
The same stars have been in place this regular season, but this time around they fell apart, with the team dropping all the way to last place in the Atlantic Division as recently as Feb. 8.
What happened? Why couldn't Tampa Bay overcome the loss of Stamkos as they did in the past? Can they bounce back quickly, or are they in big trouble as teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres become contenders in the Atlantic Division during the next few years?
Here are four factors that led to their demise this season and four big moves they should make to get back on top in 2017-18.