Look, we all have been starved for hockey over a long, hot summer. So when our favorite team, the Tampa Bay Lighting, take to the ice for training camp, it’s to be expected that we get a little excited about what we see on the ice. Excited enough to maybe overreact to some things. Lets kick things off by getting way too worked up about the line pairings from the first practice of the year.
Here are the lines according to beat reporter Gabby Shirley.
The First Line:
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
It’s perfect. It’s great. No notes. This is probably going to be the one line that doesn’t change very much throughout the season. The Lightning’s three most potent offensive players are grouped together on Day One. They need as much time together as possible to mesh Guentzel’s style of play with Point and Kucherov, who pretty much share a brain when they are on the ice together.
The Second Line:
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Cam Atkinson
Okay. Not bad. Atkinson gets the first crack at filling that key spot on the second line. Hagel and Cirelli work well together and scored a combined 26 5v5 goals last season. That’s okay production, but for the Lightning to be a serious contender this year, they both have to increase that number. Expect this line to be in flux over the next couple of days as Coach Cooper rotates players into that right wing spot.
The Third Line:
Conor Sheary – Nick Paul – Mitchell Chaffee
Nick Paul will have to do it all if this is the third line when the puck drops against the Carolina Hurricanes on opening night. Chaffee had a nice little season last year, but had just 7 points at 5v5. Sheary…well, to be kind, it wasn’t his best year. This line has the most room for improvement, and if they do, things will look pretty rosy for the Lightning.
The Fourth Line:
Zemgus Girgensons – Jesse Ylonen – Logan Brown
Those are indeed three hockey players. With the injuries to Luke Glendening and Mikey Eyssimont, Jesse Ylonen is going to get a long look with the NHL grouping in camp. He has NHL experience and plays a style of game that adapts well to the fourth-line if he can be a little more responsible in his own zone. Logan Brown is a big question mark after missing all of last year with an injury. They would be a tough line to play against, but the offense would be non-existent.
Gage Goncalves and Luke Glendening (in a red non-contact jersey) rotated several players on their line. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Goncalves on the second line for a few shifts during the next couple of weeks. He’s one of the Crunch players that has a shot at making the club.
The Defense:
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Welcome to the Lightning JJ – you’re on the top pair. It is odd to see Coach Cooper put a player on his off-hand on defense. He usually only did that with Mikhail Sergachev when he was looking for a little boost on offense. However, Moser has played on the right side in his young career, and that would free up a spot on the left side for Emil Lilleberg.
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Reunited and it looks so good. The Bolts look to recapture some of that Stanley Cup magic with this pairing, which was the shutdown duo during their Cup runs. If we had to guess, they stick together the most this season.
Max Crozier – Darren Raddysh
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix
We would consider these pairings 3A and 3B and wouldn’t read too much into how they were listed on the Tweet. They are pretty much interchangeable and it’s likely that three out of the four players make the roster. With Moser pushed up to the top pairing, Raddysh gets pushed down to the third pairing which is unfortunate for him, but a sign that the defense is deeper than it was last season.
There are going to be a lot of changes to these lines over the next couple of weeks. While the framework of the 2024-25 Tampa Bay Lightning was on the ice, there is still a lot of tinkering to be done. The players getting extra looks need to take advantage of their chances. The sense of competition should be good for everybody on the ice. When players are fighting for spots, it brings a little extra energy to practice.
