Crucial Update For Andrei Vasilevskiy And The Lightning

This morning, the goaltender was seen practicing with his teammates. Given that we are currently less than a month into the season, this could be a sign that Vasilevskiy is ahead of schedule for his recovery. Lightning beat writer Chris Kern posted clips of him practicing at a team facility this morning on X

The Lightning have recovered from their slow start without Vasilevskiy thanks in part to the emergence of Jonas Johansson as a legitimate NHL level goalie. The team now boasts a 4-2-2 record which isn't fantastic, but puts them right in the thick of things in a crowded Atlantic division. So far the Atlantic looks like it could be the strongest division in hockey as only the Montreal Canadiens have a negative goal differential at -1 and even they have a solid record at 5-2-1. Even the last place Sabres are just one game under .500 with a 4-5 record.

While some of these teams will surely cool off and regress back towards records that more accurately reflect the strength of their rosters, it does seem to be clear that the Atlantic division is stronger than expected. Getting Vasilevskiy back sooner rather than later could be a huge boost to this Lightning club.