Jon Cooper hasn’t had to reach for excuses early this season. He’s had something better: options.
That has made the Lightning’s first eight games feel a little different than the usual grind of trying to patch together a roster. Cooper has used six different lineups, not because injuries have forced his hand the way they did around this point last season, and not because he’s scrambling for answers. This is a different kind of problem - a deeper, healthier one.
“We have 23 good players, and only 20 can play,” he said. “It just can be frustrating, I’m sure, for guys that don’t get to play every night.
But you want the guys driving for spots. But it’s better than the alternative, whatever that is, like not being here, or playing on a different team or you’re in a different league.”
The Lightning, who entered the week at 6-2-0 and had won six of their last seven, are beginning a three-game road trip with Cooper leaning into that depth rather than trying to smooth it over. He said Monday before the team left for Las Vegas that he likes having that many players available, even if it means some of them sit on different nights.
“I like having it. I like having the players around,” Cooper said Monday before the team left for Las Vegas.
“Eventually, as the season wears on - you hope it never happens - guys will get banged up at some point. But that’s the message for a lot of the players.
It’s yeah, you’re out of lineup tonight, but you’re probably not out of the lineup because you did something that you deserve to be out.”
That flexibility has given Cooper room to adjust the lineup based on speed, physicality, or whatever else the night calls for. It also lets him manage playing time so nobody gets too stale. Backup goaltender Dennis Hildeby has already gotten two starts ahead of the first back-to-back of the season, Friday in Colorado and Saturday in Utah.
“We’ve got a bunch of good players here, and we’re going to try and get guys in when we can, and we don’t want guys sitting for a prolonged amount of time to get rusty,” Cooper said. “But it doesn’t take away from some skill sets that we think some guys have that can be put in those spots.
It’s just one of those things. When you’re in a pretty deep group, some internal competition is not a bad thing.”
That competition has already shown up in the lineup decisions. Defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous played well through the first six games, then sat as a healthy scratch Thursday against Seattle so Emil Lilleberg - out for the previous four games with an injury - could get back on the ice.
D’Astous didn’t stay there long. He returned Saturday and was moved onto the top power-play unit, and Tampa Bay’s struggling power play converted on its lone chance of the night.
D’Astous appears likely to remain in that role for now.
“I feel like it’s pushed the team to be better every day, every practice, every game,” D’Astous said. “Everyone is competing for a spot in the lineup, so it makes the team better overall.
The coaches, they know everyone can play. So that’s why when we get in, we have good minutes.
You just have to show coaches that we want to stay there and force their hands to make sure we stay in the lineup.”
Forward Gage Goncalves has also felt the shuffle. He was scratched against Seattle after spending most of his recent run on a top-line look with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, then came right back into a top-six role the next game.
“Every year is different,” Cooper said. “But this one, you know, it’s there’s just a lot of good players and not quite as many spots on the roster when it comes game time, but, you know, things change in a hurry, so it’s a lot of runway left in this season.”
Even Anthony Cirelli, one of Cooper’s most trusted forwards, got a brief seat on the bench Oct. 13 against the Rangers after Tampa Bay fell behind early on two goals against while he was on the ice. Conor Geekie, 22, took Cirelli’s spot for four shifts alongside Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel before Cirelli returned to open the second period and played well from there.
J.J. Moser said the group’s ability to adjust is part of what makes it work.
“You have a bunch of very talented guys that are super good at adapting,” said defenseman J.J. Moser.
“So basically, whatever is asked of you, you just find a way to deliver and to make it happen. So I think that’s why we’re good at adapting and good at playing with whatever lineup we have that night.”
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