As the first week of training camp comes to a close, the practices have started to settle into a rhythm. The novelty of new teammates has worn off and it’s time to get back to work as the Tampa Bay Lightning prepare for their first preseason game on Monday in Carolina. With a few practices under their belts, it’s a good time to check in on the lines that have been showcased at times in practice.
For the most part, there are no real surprises to the combinations, and there is a good chance, barring injury, that opening night will look something like what the Bolts are displaying in practice.
First day line combinations for main group #GoBolts #TBLightning Guentzel-Point-Kucherov Hagel-Cirelli-Goncalves Bjorkstrand-Gourde-Geekie Chaffee-Holmberg-Girgensons Hedman-Moser McDonagh-Cernak Lilleberg-Raddysh Carlile-Crozier Vasilevskiy Johansson
— Lightning Insider (@erikerlendsson.bsky.social) September 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
While Erik’s post is from the first day of practice, according to Gabby Shirley on Twitter, it was pretty much the same at the end of the week with one noticeable change (more on that later).
It’s no surprise that Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov are together on the top line. The trio was one of the top lines in all of hockey last season. There were 14 lines that spent more than 500 minutes together on the ice at 5v5 last season and only one trio posted a higher goals-for-per-60 than Point and his compatriot’s 4.03 GF/60. That was Montreal’s combo of youngsters comprised of Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Nick Suzuki who finished the season at 4.26 GF/60.
It’s not shocking that Coach Jon Cooper is keeping them together to start camp, and there is no reason to believe he’s going to mess with success unless he has to. It also allows him to keep Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel together on the second line. First up in auditions to be their third musketeer is Gage Goncalves.
Those three spent about 60 minutes together last season and posted a 5.99 GF/60 in that hour of hockey. Not too shabby. While it is a line of nothing but left-shot forwards, their skill sets compliment each other as Goncalves can serve as a playmaker for the two net-crashers in Hagel and Cirelli. Chances are that some of the other forwards get a chance, but Coach Cooper is rolling with a combination that should create some offense.
With Nick Paul out to begin the season, the third line is open for the taking. Yanni Gourde is going to be there, and likely in the middle of the ice. As to who joins him, well, best men will win. Right now it’s Connor Geekie and Oliver Bjorkstrand. This line should be pretty feisty if they stick together. Bjorkstrand is responsible up and down the ice, Geekie can be a pest, and Gourde is…well Yanni Gourde.
A new face centers the fourth line as Pontus Holmberg skated between Zemgus Girgensons and Mitchell Chaffee. Girgensons is the biggest beneficiary of Paul’s injury as it likely keeps him at the forefront of the battle for the fourth line. Holmberg should be an ideal fourth-line center as the 26-year-old has solid skating skills and defensive awareness. He’s tough to knock off the puck and can dig the puck out of (or trap it against) the boards as the case calls for.
Nothing at all surprising about the defense as the combinations are what the Lightning rolled out for the majority of last year.
While the Bolts have showcased these combinations in practice, they won’t throw them together in a preseason game for a while. Expect the first few games to feature a lot of the rookies/prospects that are fighting for a spot on the roster. Once the camp roster starts getting shaved down, then Coach Cooper will start putting his stars together on the ice to get them ready for the season.
So, the one glaring omission from Saturday’s practice was in net. Andrei Vasilevskiy wasn’t on the ice for the scrimmage or practice, which prompted some questions from the media. Coach Cooper didn’t seem overly concerned as he provided the first “player management” comment of the season,
“Basically he’s going through some treatments. It’s player management. He’ll be out probably a few days, latest hopefully a week and then back in there.”
When asked if it was something that would keep him out for the start of the season, the head coach replied with, “I hope not.”
Take that as you will. From a certain point of view it makes sense. There is no real reason to have him out on the ice every day in the first week of practice, and if they can save some wear and tear on their workhorse goaltender, why not take advantage of it. Based on what we know about Vasy’s preparation, it won’t stop him from being ready for the beginning of the season.
From another point of view, and based on how things played out a few seasons ago, well, don’t be surprised if some fans might be a bit wary of him missing time on the ice this early in training camp. After all, he was “day-to-day” in 2023 prior to missing the first part of the season recovering from back surgery. As of right now, it doesn’t seem to be that dire, but it is something to keep an eye on.
