Tampa Bay Lightning Year In Review: Victor Hedman

As we reach the 77 day mark before the start of the regular season, let’s take a look back at the fantastic season had by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

The off-season is in full swing and Tampa Bay Lightning fans all across the Bolts Nation are starting to feel the pain that they dread throughout the entire season; the pain of hockey withdrawals.

This pain has been numbed a little bit this season thanks to a good many factors. The first of these factors was the Tampa Bay Lightning’s amazing run in the post season and their journey in the hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. As the weeks pressed on, Lightning fans continued to see their favorite players on the ice while fans started their off-season a little earlier.

At the same time, the Tampa Bay Lightning has made things pretty interesting during the off-season. Since the Free Agency period opened up on July 1^st, the Lightning has been making some interesting moves.

Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman has made some pretty interesting moves such as signing forwards Erik Condra and Jeff Tambellini to new deals as well as bringing on young winger Tye McGinn. Yzerman has also made moves to secure the futures of some of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s young talent like center Vladislav Namestnikov and defenseman Luke Witkowski.

Despite all of the action going on off the ice, fans still ache for the chill in the air, the roar of the crowd, and the intensity that is known as Tampa Bay Lightning hockey. Fear not, my fellow Lightning fans…the Lightning Home Opener is not quite as far away as some would think.

In fact, as of today we are just 77 days away from the Tampa Bay Lightning Home Opener at Amalie Arena. That’s right ladies and gentlemen…we are just a Victor Hedman away from the start of the regular season!

In light of this, we figured the logical course of action would be to take a look back at the amazing 2014-15 season of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

Victor Hedman started off the season with a bang. In the first three games of the season, the twenty four year old Swedish defenseman had already scored 3 goals and 4 assists for a total of 7 points. Unfortunately, his hot streak was put to an end when he suffered an injury to his hand that would keep him out of action until November 29^th.

Thankfully, the young defenseman quickly got back to his old ways when he returned to the ice. In the 59 games that Hedman played with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the regular season, he scored 10 goals and 28 assists for a total of 38 points accompanied by a plus-12 rating.

These numbers placed Hedman just one point shy of first place on the Lightning among defensemen in terms of points. The only person to surpass Hedman was his Swedish counterpart Anton Stralman. The difference between the two is that unlike Hedman, Stralman played in all 82 regular season games.

Victor Hedman is by far one of the most offensive defensemen on the Tampa Bay Lightning. In addition to his innate ability to make a play happen, he has the size, strength, and fortitude to knock a player off the puck, carry it through the neutral zone, and get the job done.

We have said many times in the past, and it still holds very true, that the NHL lockout of 2013 was probably one of the best things in the world that could have ever happened to Victor Hedman.

As most of you know by now, during the lockout Victor Hedman traveled overseas to play for Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League. In the 26 games he played in the KHL, Hedman was able to score 1 goal and 20 assists for a total of 21 points.

Ever since his time in the KHL, we have all witness a massive improvement in Hedman’s offensive game. The 6 foot 6 inch tall defenseman moved on from his average 20 point or less seasons to a 55 point season in the 2013-14 season and his 38 point season in 2014-15.

We don’t know about you, but we are excited to see what the future holds for Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. As of right now, he is under contract until the conclusion of 2016-17 season; however, one would imagine that much like they have with Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, they will want to work on a new deal probably around the conclusion of next season.

Time will tell what the future holds of the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman, but one thing we know for sure is that it is going to be a heck of a rollercoaster ride watching it all play out in front of our eyes.

What do you think of Victor Hedman’s elevated offensive play? Do you think Hedman has become the standard in which all Lightning defensemen are compared against? What do you think is his most valuable asset to the Tampa Bay Lightning? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: Who is the Toughest Competition Next Season?

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