On Thursday, prior to their game against the St. Louis Blues, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that defenseman J.J. Moser will miss the next 8-10 weeks with a lower-body injury. They did not divulge what the injury was.
Injury update: JJ Moser will miss 8-10 weeks with a lower body injury. #GoBolts
— Benjamin Pierce (@boltsben.bsky.social) December 19, 2024 at 2:57 PM
Moser suffered the injury against Calgary and proceeded to miss the next two games with head coach Jon Cooper stating he would be out “week-to-week” when asked earlier this week. The Swiss-born defenseman has appeared in 27 games with the Lightning this season, posting two goals and eight assists while averaging 19:54 of ice time. In his first season with the Bolts, Moser quickly developed a chemistry with Victor Hedman with the duo comprising the top pairing for the Bolts.
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The two played over 274 minutes together at 5v5 and posted a 56.95 xGF%, the second-best number on the team for pairings that have at least 30 minutes of ice time together. The Lightning averaged 3.72 goals/60 with Hedman and Moser together while allowing just 1.97 goals against/60. Their ability to produce results together really settled the Lightning’s pairings down, allowing Coach Cooper to keep Erik Cernak and Ryan McDonagh together against the top lines of their opponents.
The 24-year-old Moser was part of the package the Lightning received this summer when they traded Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club. While Conor Geekie was the prime player in the deal, Moser was seen as a young defenseman who could fill the void on the blueline left by Sergachev’s departure. He’s exceeded those expectations with his play this season. Even more impressive, he’s done it playing on his less-dominant side. The Lightning signed him to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $3.375M, which has proved to be a steal considering his production as a top-pairing blueliner.
In his absence, Darren Raddysh will spend most of the time opposite Hedman (by the way, the only pairing to have a higher xGF% than the Moser/Hedman one), with Cernak and McDonagh sticking together. Since Moser is due back this season, it’s not likely that the Lightning will look to replace his spot with a trade. Instead, they will add someone from Syracuse to serve as the seventh defenseman until Moser is ready to return. Steven Santini was recalled last week and played a game on the right side, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bolts give Dyllan Gill or Roman Schmidt a game or two, much like they did with Declan Carlilie, Jack Thompson, and Max Crozier last year when they were shorthanded on defense.
Crozier would probably be the optimal player to receive a long look in Moser’s absence, but he seems to be dealing with own injury in Syracuse, as he has not appeared in a game since November 16th.
