TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been almost 20 years now, but John Torchetti will never forget when Sheldon Keefe made his pitch.



Torchetti was an assistant with the Lightning in that fall of 2000. The team was coming off a dismal season in which it had lost 47 games (in regulation), finishing with a goal differential of minus-106. They had the youngest captain in the league in Vincent Lecavalier. Martin St. Louis was entering his first year with the franchise. Brad Richards was a highly touted rookie.



Keefe, Tampa Bay’s second-round pick in 1999, had faced Richards in the Memorial Cup in junior. The 5-foot-10 winger for the Barrie Colts was the Ontario Hockey League’s leading scorer, racking up 121 points in his first full season. Keefe knew the Lightning needed a scoring boost up front. He was competitive as hell. And he was confident.



So Keefe went to Torchetti and Lightning coach Steve Ludzik late in camp and told them, “I should be in...