He endeared himself to Lightning fans with one hit. The coaching staff was more partial to his overall play. All things being equal, Emil Lilleberg had a pretty good first season in North America.
| Name | Emil Lilleberg |
| Position | Defense |
| Age (as of October 1) | 23 |
| Height/Weight | 6’2″, 203 lbs. |
| Expected 2024-25 Team | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Draft – Year, Round | Signed as a free agent |
| Previous Rankings | #13 (2023) |
| Writer’s Ranking | 5 |
| Reader’s Ranking | 3 |
| Final Rank | 4 |
Stats
Our Thoughts
It’s not often that you can point to an exact moment a player becomes a fan favorite, but for Emil Lilleberg, there was no doubt that he introduced himself to the Lightning faithful on January 13th, 2024. In just his fourth NHL game, Lilleberg absolutely laid out Anaheim forward Brett Leason:
The young Norwegian finished the season with 5 assists in 37 games with the Bolts, providing valuable minutes for a defense that was shorthanded for much of the second half of the season. His performance vaulted him up the rankings from 13th last year to 4th this year. While he debuted at a decent spot last year, not many folks thought he would see NHL ice time in his rookie year.
Perhaps the most confidence-inspiring part was that, from the moment he took the ice with the Lightning, he looked like he belonged there. It was evident that his experience from playing at the pro level in Europe helped him prepare for the NHL. He jumped on the ice and didn’t look back, which is part of the reason the Lightning re-signed him to a two-year, one-way extension this season.
Lilleberg doesn’t over-complicate his game. If there is a player with the puck in front of him, he hits him. The decent-sized Norwegian finished sixth on the team with 10.74 hits/60 at 5v5 last season. If he can’t hit the person, he’s more than willing to step in front of their shot, as he blocked 4.1 shots/60 in his debut season. He has the makings of a very solid third-pair defenseman, a role he is likely to play this year for the Bolts.
After watching Mikhail Sergachev play a more offensive-minded game last year, Lilleberg will get to see how a true stay-at-home, defense-first defender plays as he lines up behind Ryan McDonagh on the depth chart. Being able to control his minutes will be big for the Lightning this year as he is still learning the game at this level.
His play did get a little uneven at times last season. There were times that forwards were able to beat him along the boards, especially when Lilleberg went for a big hit. Judging the speed of attacking forwards is one of the big adjustments that defenders need to make when they make the leap to the NHL. The only way to really learn that is by getting game action, and Lilleberg is in line to get some minutes this year, especially if J.J. Moser sticks on the right side of the defense.
As a physical player, there were a few times with the Lightning (and Crunch) that Lilleberg went a little too far and picked up a penalty. Expect him to be a little better with that this year.
Offensively, he isn’t going to be Cale Makar. Still, he has a pretty big shot that can generate rebounds from the point, and it’s hard enough that opponents won’t be rushing to jump in front of it. He is a solid passer who knows his limitations and doesn’t try to make too many hero passes in the offensive zone.
When you see him play on the ice, it’s sometimes hard to remember he is just 23-years-old and has room to grow. He could and should be a pretty solid part of the Lightning moving forward during the twilight years of the Victor Hedman era. He’s not likely to take Big Vic’s spot as the top blueliners, but he could develop into a nice, physical, middle-pairing player if things break right for him.
Reader Comments:
Lilleberg received some first place votes from our readers. One reader’s justification for ranking him top overall is pretty succinct.
“Good D Man”
Highlight Videos
He doesn’t jump into the play all that often, but when he does it’s usually the right call. His instincts are pretty good. Lilleberg didn’t score here, but that was more because of a great save then anything he did wrong.
Most of Lilleberg’s assists are going to come off of his shot. He can crank it up when he needs to. If he gets it on net like he did here, it should generate a lot of deflections and rebounds.
Sundown you better take care, if I find you creeping around my back stairs…. Again, he has some good instincts as to when to pinch down low.
Lilleberg makes a really nifty play to start the breakout on this play. He is a decent passer, but also relies on the old tried and true method of banging pucks out off the boards.
