The Tampa Bay Lightning have a rather depleted roster at the moment. They traded away three players recently -- Pavel Kubina, Dominic Moore, and Steve Downie -- and while that has put them in a good position for the future, it means their current roster is being held together with duct tape and AHL promotions. To make matters more difficult, team captain Vincent Lecavalier is out with a fractured bone in his right hand, and is expected to miss 3-6 weeks while he recovers.

The good news is that Lecavalier will not require surgery, and that his hand merely needs to be given enough time to heal. GM Steve Yzerman admitted yesterday that it's possible Lecavalier could be back as soon as in three weeks, although he cautioned against being too optimistic:

"These things, generally, can take three to six weeks," he said. "Three is on the early side. We just have to wait and see how the bone heals and go from there." (Tampa Bay Times)

In the meantime, the Lightning will have to do the best they can with their limited depth. It could be a bumpy couple of weeks.

For more on the Lightning, check out SB Nation's blog on the Bolts, Raw Charge.