The Lightning have been busy this offseason, like many other teams, and are wprking hard for a better season next year. Other news events have coincided with this and our recap will refresh you on everything you need to know.

Signings:

The Bolts resigned forward Alex Killorn last Thursday. Killorn was a pending Restricted Costless Agent and proved to be a valuable player this year for Tampa. In all 82 games, Killorn had 17 goals and 41 points to go with 63 penalty minutes. Killorn had one point in the playoffs and had six shots on goal in Game 4 which was a team high.

According to the Tampa Bay Tribune, the Lightning will part ways with backup goaltender Anders Lindback. Lindback went 8-12-2 in the regular season and 0-3 in the playoffs. Lindback is 26 and went 18-22-3 in his two year tenure with Tampa Bay. He will become a restricted costless agent on July 1st.

Draft:

The Bolts will head into this year's draft in Philadelphia with the 19th and and 28th overall picks. The 19th was their original selection and Tampa acquired the 28th from the Martin St. Louis Ryan Callahan trade. The Bolts also acquired the Rangers 2015 first round selection as a part of that deal. Some of Tampa's most notable first round draft picks include Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier.

2014-15 Season announced:

The Bolts, along with the other 29 teams in the NHL learned their 2014-15 schedule on Sunday. Their first game and home opener will be against the Florida Panthers on October 9th. The Lightning also had their home opener aganst the Panthers last season, a game they won 7-2 thank to a hattrick by Steven Stamkos and two goals by Valterri Filppula. The Bolts will play five games against the Buffalo Sabres (three at home, two away) and the Montreal Canadiens (two at home, three away). They will play four games against their other divisional oppenents, three against teams in the Metropolitan Division and two against teams in the Western Conference. Three key games against members of the Metropolitan Division are the three against the New York Rangers. Not only will they be against the Eastern Conference Champions but will also mark the first time that Martin St. Louis will play against Tampa. He left at the trade deadline after nearly 13 seasons with the Lightning.

Nominatins abound:

On Tuesday, Las Vegas will play host to the NHL Award Ceremony. The Lightning will have for nominees attending. Jon Cooper will be up for the Jack Adams Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding head coach. Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson are up for the Calder Trophy which is awarded to the best rookie and goaltender Ben Bishop is up for the Vezina Trophy which will be awarded to the best goaltender of the regular season. The Colorado Avalanche will be sending candidates for the Jack Adams and Calder trophies as they had a similar season to the Lightning.

Stars in the making:

Last year the Lightning selected Jonathan Drouin, 3rd overall in the 2013 NHL Draft. Drouin had high hopes of making the team but didn't, the Lightning sent him back to the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL to develop more. After another outstanding season, next year will likely be his for the taking assuming he makes the cut. Brett Connolly may also make the Lightning roster. He has had limited success in the NHL but during his time in the AHL this year, Connolly averaged almost a point per game.

Yzerman honoured again:

Lightning GM Steve Yzerman was inducted into the Order of Hockey on Monday for his outstanding career. In his 22 year career, that he played entirely with Detroit, he amassed 692 goals and 1,755 points which are in the Top 10 for each category. Yzerman was also the GM of Canada"s gold winning teams both in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014. Yzerman has been a leading force in Tampa Bay's slow but steady rebuild over the past few years and will likely be with the Lightning for several years to come.

Wrap Up:

This week has been important for the Lightning and the next will be just as big but the big three things to take away are the return on Alex Killorn, the departure of Anders Lindback and the award nominees. We'll keep you posted on any future news for the Bolts in the weeks to come.