Evaluating the Tenure of Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois
Over five years in, it's been enough time begin properly assessing the Julien BriseBois era of the Tampa Bay Lightning
In 2010, then-newly-hired Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman brought in Julien BriseBois to be his assistant general manager. They came in together and created success together.
From 2010 to 2018, the Lightning went from a struggling team to one that was in the Eastern Conference Final four times and made a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2015. Then, the shocking news came when Steve Yzerman stepped down as GM ahead of the 2018-19 season to become a senior advisor. BriseBois assumed Yzerman’s role. It was apparent Yzerman was on the way out. That proved to be the case when he re-joined the Detroit Red Wings as their GM the following season.
It was BriseBois’ team to be in charge of now. Now that we’re in season six, it’s time to look back at how he’s done and what to expect in the future.
Assessing His Time as Assistant General Manager
There had to be a reason why the Lightning promoted from within and didn’t hire an outside candidate. Let’s see what BriseBois role’s were as assistant GM.
According to the Lightning’s online profile of BriseBois, during his eight years as assistant GM, BriseBois “assisted in all aspects of player personnel decisions, player development, analytics, contract preparation and negotiation, collective bargaining agreement interpretation and compliance, as well as salary arbitration for the Lightning and the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, for whom he also served as general manager.”
How about we unpack all of this for a moment?
So he had his hand in a lot of the daily activities of the actual general manager, whether it was at the NHL or AHL level. Great start.
Let’s look at player development specifically for a moment. Keep in mind which players were developed during this time and were overseen by BriseBois at the AHL level. We’re looking at players who spent significant time in the AHL before moving up to the big league club. They also had to join the organization after BriseBois was in charge. Under these guidelines, here are the following players:
Tyler Johnson (137 AHL games, signed 2011)
Ondrej Palat (117 AHL games, drafted 2011)
Andrei Vasilevskiy (37 AHL games, drafted 2011)
Yanni Gourde (298 AHL games, signed 2011)
Anthony Cirelli (60 AHL games, drafted 2015)
It’s safe to say that a solid number of key Lightning players developed under BriseBois supervision. This doesn’t even include who helped develop while aiding Yzerman at the NHL level.
This kind of track record is what gave Yzerman the confidence to pass down
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Season One
Coming off the loss to the Washington Capitals in the 2018 Eastern Conference Final, the Lightning turned into an unstoppable regular-season force. In the first month of the season, the Lightning went 8-2-1 and never looked back. Their worst month would be January in which they went 6-4-0, still a winning record.
The Lightning finished 62-16-4. At the time, the Lightning tied the then record for wins in a season, matching the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings - coincidently a team that Yzerman had played on. This record was, by far, enough to clinch the team’s first-ever President’s Trophy, which goes to the team that finished with the most points that season.
Along with the team award, there were individual awards to go around. Nikita Kucherov would win the Hart Trophy, the league’s MVP, and the Art Ross Trophy, the points leader for that season. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy would win the Vezina Trophy, the league’s best goalie.
However, one trophy evaded them and evaded them quickly, and that was the grandest of them all, the Stanley Cup.
The Lightning faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Lightning went up 3-0 early in the first game, watched it slip away and never recovered. The Blue Jackets swept them out of the first round, the first and only time such an occurrence has happened to a President’s Trophy winner.
BriseBois was faced with a humiliating defeat in year one at the helm.
“What really compounds the disappointment is that we didn’t play anywhere near our best hockey during the series. And now, the question is why? Why didn’t we play our best when it mattered the most,” BriseBois said to the Associated Press.
“The reality is it’s not something that I’m going to be able to pinpoint to any one thing,” BriseBois added. “I know it would make it a lot easier for all of us if we could have a clear narrative. We lost because of, fill-in the blank. The reality is it’s a lot more complex than that.”
BriseBois added he would not overreact to the loss. He made clear he had confidence in head coach Jon Cooper and the team, and the goal was to do better. He kept true to that.
Roster Moves of the Modern-Day Dynasty
The Lightning wouldn’t come close to the President’s Trophy again. It’s hard to imagine that upset too many people after the previous season’s ending.
BriseBois made moves before the season and ahead of the deadline to give the team more grit. He signed forward Patrick Maroon, who won the Stanley Cup just the year before with the St. Louis Blues and traded for forwards Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. To beef up the defense, he brought in defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk, Luke Schenn and Zach Bogosian.
The Lighting overcame a slow start, a pause on the season of 142 days due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic to win the Stanley Cup. The depth brought in by BriseBois helped the Lightning win even being without their Captain, Steven Stamkos, outside of a single shift.
After this season, key acquisitions such as Shattenkirk left in free agency. Bogosian signed elsewhere too (though he’ll return later) and Cedric Paquette and Braydon Coburn were also traded away. Much of the championship team remained intact beyond these transactions, and BriseBois would acquire defenseman David Savard before the trade deadline to reinforce the roster. The Lightning repeated as champions.
The run with this roster couldn’t go on forever due to the salary cap. It giveth and it taketh. BriseBois would have to reshuffle the roster. No more Johnson, Goodrow, Coleman, Schenn or Gourde. To fill in those roles, BriseBois brought in the likes of forwards Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. These moves ensured the Lightning would reach the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight season, though they fell to the Colorado Avalanche in six.
Post-Modern-Day Dynasty Tenure
Anything after the third-straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final can be viewed as the post-championship years (barring something crazy in the next few months).
BriseBois and the Lightning haven’t given up trying to compete and make moves to win another Stanley Cup. Last season, they acquired forwards Mikey Eyssimont and Tanner Jeannot. Eyssimont so far has made a solid addition to the team. He’s great at creating takeaways and provides a lot of muscle to the team. By muscle, we mean not just a big hit, but he’s not afraid to drop the gloves.
The Jeannot trade remains controversial, arguably the most of the BriseBois era. While other depth pieces have had their hefty prices, this one raised eyebrows to another level. Landing Jeannot required five draft picks and a forward.
He fits the enforcer bill well. At a lower price, there would be fewer complaints, but the cost was more than multiple acquisitions combined. Others feel the Jeannot trade cost the team the ability to retain forward Ross Colton, who was a key player in the Cup runs. The deal looks worse for BriseBois when Jeannot hasn’t produced much offensively and missed significant time.
While this year’s acquisitions are brand new, they have at least made an immediate impact. Forward Anthony Duclair scored a goal and had an assist in his Lightning debut, and defenseman Matt Dumba came in and played 20 minutes of ice time.
How Good Has His Tenure Been?
When it comes to winning championships, BriseBois has come through. While there is the argument of winning with Yzerman’s players, it can be rebutted relatively easily.
For starters, key players who were part of the back-to-back Stanley Cups for the Lightning were brought in by BriseBois. Even if a player wasn’t BriseBois’ acquisition, that doesn’t necessarily make them Yzerman’s pick either. Two key core members of the Lightning, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, predate either general manager’s tenure.
The Lightning’s window is starting to close now. While it can be viewed as BriseBois losing his effectiveness, it could be that he is simply in for a new test: the rebuild. It’s not even unfamiliar territory. He was an active part of the previous rebuild under Yzerman. However, being in charge is different than being in second in command.
It’ll be a unique situation, much in part to his previous moves. For example, he’s had one first-round selection as GM. That pick is Isaac Howard who has shown a lot of potential during his play at the World Juniors and as a member of Michigan State men’s hockey. Other potential picks have been traded away. He won’t have another until 2026 unless the Lightning finish with a top-10 pick in 2024 or 2025 (odds of either are not great). It helped win Stanley Cups, but it makes preparing for the future harder. It’s the price to pay.
But BriseBois has a history of developing talent and making the most of what he’s got. What are some examples? For starters, defenseman Nick Perbix was drafted in the sixth round and has become a mainstay. Then, there’s Darren Raddysh, who went undrafted but still developed into a major contributor to the team. With the stash of seventh-round picks BriseBois has collected, he’s likely going to develop another guy or two just based on his track record alone.
There’s inevitably going to be a point where it will only get worse before it gets better. It’s just how it is at one point. But he’s certainly earned the chance to stick around and be part of what’s next. It doesn’t even have to be a full rebuild. It could be a retool, where a year or two of some tweaks opens a new window. More Stanley Cups could be in the Lightning’s future. Worst-case scenario, if the era ends without another ring, BriseBois would leave knowing his name is on the Stanley Cup twice.