TAMPA -- As the Lightning open a new season, they'll be doing so under a new general manager.

Last month, Steve Yzerman stepped down and Julien BriseBois stepped in.

I recently sat down with BriseBois, who talked about his journey to the GM role and expectations for the 2018 season. Here's an abbreviated version of our conversation.

Stacey: I’m sure this first month has been a whirlwind for you, you’re the new GM of the Lightning, but it’s also the start of a new season, how are you feeling?

BriseBois: It’s an exciting time of the year, whether you’re a GM or a player or the assistant GM. Everyone’s excited about the start of the season getting going after a summer of training. For the players, putting all the work in, they want the reward of going out and performing and doing well.

Stacey: You’re no stranger to the Lightning organization. You were the assistant to Steve Yzerman these past eight years, what did you take away the most from your time under him?

BriseBois: Steve brought a lot to the table. The one thing though from day one that he had, that I think really helped the organization, is he had a really clear vision for what he wanted the team to look like on the ice – how we were going to go about winning hockey games and it was all based on speed and skill. It took us a number of years to build a team that looked like that, but now I can see it in practice.

Stacey: You’ve had a very interesting journey into the sports world. Your career started in law, did you ever dream that you’d be here sitting as an NHL GM?

BriseBois: Certainly not growing up. My dream was to become a shortstop in Major League baseball and I thought I’d be a tax attorney after that, but that wasn’t that exciting, I found out. And then, over time, very serendipitously, I ended up in hockey. The job you look at as something you’d like is general manager -- in the hockey world, that’s the ultimate position. So I’m in the chair and now, the dream is really to bring the Cup back as general manager of the Lightning.

Watch the full one-on-one interview with Julien BriseBois Thursday night on Spectrum Sports 360 at 10:30 p.m.