A role player can be a defensive forward, an energy forward, sometimes even a power forward (and possibly even a defenseman), a grinder, a goon, a face-off specialist, an antagonist – the list is long. And although role players can, and often do, provide offense, the offense is usually a bonus. They’re not counted on to score.

More often than not, role players are the ones populating the bottom two lines of any given NHL team. You’ll find them occasionally on a top line, usually to complement a scoring duo with some grit. They’re the unsung heroes. They’re the players whom you’ll hear a team’s fans raving about, but you’ll find yourself knowing very little about them.

Of course, the matter of who is a role player and who is not, is largely gray. Benoit Pouliot, for instance, started the season as a speedy, energy forward, but finished the season unquestionably in a scoring role. Alex Killorn scores his share of points, but is depended on for his workman-like attitude in his own end as well. There is no clear cut line that players fall to either side of.

So I drew one. For the simple purpose of clarity, I split the Lightning forwards in half, put six on the top side, six on the bottom, named the top half “scorers” and the bottom half “role players.” I made a third list that I’ll call “the hopefuls,” which is where I slotted the Lightning players that played fewer than 20 games this past season (but more than 10), mostly because they spent time in Syracuse.

The lists wound up looking like this:

The Scorers/Top Six (listed numerically)
1. Vincent Lecavalier
2. Teddy Purcell
3. Alex Killorn
4. Martin St. Louis
5. Benoit Pouliot
6. Steven Stamkos

The Role Playes/Bottom Six
1. Tom Pyatt
2. Rayn Malone
3. BJ Crombeen
4. Dana Tyrell
5. Nate Thompson
6. Richard Panik

The Hopefuls/AHL Call Ups
1. Tyler Johnson
2. Ondrej Palay
3. PC Labrie

As you can see, it’s not an exact science. Which list Ryan Malone is better suited to, for instance, is debatable. The same can be said for a number of players, and the fact of the matter is very few, if any teams, are actually split evenly between role players and scorers. But splitting them up makes for tidy article-writing, so there you have it.

It’s important to keep in mind that I grade players based not on how well they played in comparison to each other, but on how well or poorly they met the expectations that the organization, and fans, had for them coming into the season. In some cases it’s an easy thing to dissect; in other cases not so much.

So let us now focus on those six players I have loosely dubbed “role players,” review their efforts from this past season, and grade them accordingly. Oh, the power that comes with judging professional athletes from the comfort of my armchair!

The Role Players

(Listed numerically…)

#11 Tom Pyatt

(GP) 43 (G)8 (A)8 (PTS)16 (+/-)+5 (PIM) 12 (ATOI)13:34

Apr 24, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Kostka (53) attempts to check Tampa Bay Lightning center Tom Pyatt (11) during the first period at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Pyatt found himself the beneficiary/victim (depending on how you want to look at it) of constant shuffling through the Lightning lineup this year. Believe it or not, this was by far Pyatt’s best offensive season. Much of that can be attributed to some time in the early part of the season lining up alongside Vincent Lecavalier, and some of it can be attributed to some offensively gifted AHL call ups playing on the fourth line with him. Beyond those decent numbers (Pyatt is only 26, so the door is not yet closed on him emerging as a 20-goal-man one of these days), Pyatt’s main function is that of a penalty killer. And he’s serviceable in that role. Pyatt was, however, given to long stretches of invisibility this season. Part of that had to do with team injuries and subsequent line shuffling – Pyatt could easily find himself buried on the fourth line after an extended stay on the second due to a key player (Ryan Malone, for instance) returning to the lineup. His +5 rating is impressive, given how much Lightning forwards struggled to stay above 0.

Grade: B

Looking Forward: Pyatt is useful, but not exceptional, even as fourth liners go. He’s a piece that’s complementary, perhaps even a piece that’s complementary to complementary pieces. He provides some versatility because he has a bit more scoring touch than most fourth-liners. But as more and more AHL players force their way into the Lightning lineup, it’s only logical to assume that some of them are going to emerge as A or B-grade role players, and they could prove themselves to be an upgrade on Pyatt. And would anyone be surprised to see the Bolts search the trade market for depth? There are a number of scenarios that spell trouble for Pyatt’s roster spot, and he has some trade value.

 
#12 Ryan Malone

(GP) 24 (G)6 (A)2 (PTS)8 (+/-)-3 (PIM)22 (ATOI)15:44

2013 did not go well for Ryan Malone. In fact, it was downright ugly at times. He suffered from injuries, he suffered from illnesses, and even when he was in the lineup he never seemed to be himself. Was he a victim of the lockout layoff? Is age catching up with him early (Malone is 33)? Maybe he was just unlucky. Whatever the case, it got bad enough that coach Jon Cooper commented that Malone sometimes looked like he was asleep on the ice. (To be fair, Cooper also said there were times Malone was the team’s best player.) Malone is often overlooked as a key piece of this team, but he is. When he’s on his game, Malone provides a valuable physical presence, scores about 0.7 points per game, and is arguably the team’s best leader. That is not easy to replace. Unfortunately, Malone might not be capable of those things anymore. In April, Malone saw his icetime cut all the way down to 12 minutes per game. Not a good sign. And it could have played a larger part than we realize in the Lightning’s disappointing season.

Grade: F (Maybe that seems unfair, given the injuries. But Malone was not even close to what the Bolts needed him to be this year.)

Looking Forward: Speculation is beginning to swirl that the Lightning will buy out Malone’s contract in the off-season. And Malone’s performance, along with his worsening injury woes, are adding weight to the case. With a $4.5 million cap hit, moving Malone to another team is only slightly more likely than moving Vincent Lecavalier. His contract is shorter term however, ending in 2015, which makes him a much more likely candidate than Lecavalier to be bought out. (For those of you thinking Lecavalier will be bought out, how about you be the one that walks into Jeff Vinik’s office and asks him to cut THAT check.)

 
#19 BJ Crombeen

(GP)44 (G)1 (A)7 (PTS)8 (+/-)+4 (PIM)112 (ATOI)11:04

The case of BJ Crombeen is a curious and interesting one. He was brought in to be Tampa Bay’s chief enforcer, found himself undersized for the role, but somehow between trips to the penalty box and visits with the medical staff he revealed himself as a pretty good utility player. It started with Crombeen popping up for shifts on the penalty kill, and as time went on, he began having noticeably good shifts. It’s very telling that Crombeen, who scored just one goal this season, managed to be a +4. But even more telling is how Crombeen’s icetime increased from about nine minutes per game at the beginning of the season to over 12 minutes per game by season’s end (and this amidst the influx of impressive minor leaguers). He was rewarded with a contract extension at the end of the season, and it was well deserved. Crombeen is cheap for what he provides – a solid fourth line presence that plays tough, smart, often ugly, meat and potatoes hockey.

Grade: B+

Looking Forward: Word has it that Crombeen is very popular with his teammates – that’s not a surprise, given how many punches in the face he took for them. If he ever scores 10 goals again, the Bolts will be lucky. But one thing is clear – he’s more than just an enforcer. He eats up solid, safe minutes (I point again to the +4), and gives opponents tough shifts. His style, while very basic, very unspectacular, is unique among Lightning forwards.

 
#42 Dana Tyrell

(GP)21 (G)1 (A)3 (PTS)4 (+/-)-3 (PIM)4 (ATOI)10:21

The name of Tyrell’s game is speed. He’s yet another undersized Lightning forward, and you can occasionally catch him blazing up and down the ice (when he’s in the lineup). Unfortunately, Tyrell’s game is limited to just that – speed. Speed, however, can be translated into energy, and once in a while this year, Tyrell would provide an inspiring shift. But the issue remains, Tyrell is not great defensively, and he’s probably never going to be a great scorer. He hasn’t established himself as more than a bonus offensive threat even at the AHL level.

Grade: C-

Looking Forward: Again, Tyrell’s probably never going to be a major, or even minor, scoring force in the NHL. He does, however, have the tools to make himself useful. For one, he has the kind of speed that can win races and create battles out of nothing. If he can learn to win those battles (much like fellow undersizer and former teammate, Cory Conacher), he will be a valuable third and fourth line player. As of now, he’s an able body that can be inserted into the lineup and win races. It’s hard to imagine him making a career out of that alone.

February 24, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Nate Thompson (44) on the ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

#44 Nate Thompson

(GP)45 (G)7 (A)8 (PTS)15 (+/-)-2 (PIM)17 (ATOI)14:20

Unlikely as it seems, there were stretches of the season where Nate Thompson was Tampa Bay’s best player. Not only did he match last year’s offensive totals despite playing 23 fewer games, he was also just 10 points short of a career high. Of course, Thompson’s main function is that of a defensive forward. He took ownership of Tampa Bay’s third line this year, and his icetime was increasing steadily until he took a horrific slapshot to his visor near the end of the season. In a lot of ways, this season was a coming out party for Thompson, and he showed that he might be the exact type of player the Lightning have sadly too few of – a defense-first forward who plays a gritty game based more on will than skill. His -2 rating is deceptive – the majority of his minutes were against opponents’ best lines, starting with defensive zone faceoffs. He was rewarded with a new contract for his efforts, and now figures to be a fixture in the Lightning’s future.

Grade: A-

Looking Forward: Thompson should return to third line and penalty killing duties next season. Certain penalty killers are likely to see that role reduced, with Jon Cooper seeming intent on turning Steven Stamkos into a penalty killer, but Thompson is not likely to be one of them. He should assume first unit duties and Stamkos will alternate in and out of the second unit. Beyond that, it’s beginning to look like Thompson can be counted on for bonus offense, which makes him newly valuable. While he’s still not quite an A-quality role player, he’s showing that he might evolve into one soon.

 
#71 Richard Panik

(GP)25 (G)5 (A) 4 (PTS)9 (+/-) -2 (PIM) 4 (ATOI)11:19

Richard Panik is one of several under-24 year-olds that found themselves in and out of the Lightning lineup throughout the year. And Panik, among others, showed flashes that he is ready for a full-time NHL role. Panik was used mostly as a depth player with the Lightning, but he was/is a prominent scorer in Syracuse (41 points in 51 AHL games this season, and named to the Eastern Conference’s All Star team). He earned icetime at points in the season where he wasn’t expected to play much.

Grade: B

Looking Forward: What Panik provided this season was small, but that’s not important. What’s important is there were hints of what he might provide in the future. The jury is still out on whether or not Panik will be coming a top six, scoring forward. But it seems clear that, at worst, Panik is going to be a skilled depth player that can provide solid offense on the lower lines. Like so many Tampa Bay players, the story is yet to be told.

–

In all of our gripes and complaints about defense with the Tampa Bay Lightning, something is often overlooked: Defense is not entirely the responsibility of defensemen. Forwards need to do their part as well, and in Tampa Bay’s case, I believe that’s been a large part of the issue.

Perhaps a major problem with the Tampa Bay Lightning is: while they have plenty of serviceable role players, they really lack that A-grade role player that can solidify a bottom 6. Tampa has B and C-grade role players, but they have no true shutdown artists. In other words: they have useful role players, but not exceptional ones.

The closest thing Tampa Bay has to that player, to their own version of Brandon Sutter or Steve Ott, is Nate Thompson. And as good as Thompson is, he’s still a notch below the league’s best bottom sixers. (And no, not all bottom sixers are simply players that can’t cut it in the top six – it doesn’t work that way. Great bottom sixers are players who bring skills to the table that don’t necessarily translate into goals, but are nonetheless very valuable.)

And because Tampa Bay doesn’t have a true difference maker in their bottom six (the jury’s out on Thompson), expectations are low for them. It’s hard to grade them harshly, because, for instance, it’s not like it would be reasonable to expect Tom Pyatt to morph into Kris Draper overnight.

That’s the bad news. The good news is Tampa Bay’s farm system is filled with players that will likely never be superstar scorers, but have an excellent shot at becoming very valuable third and fourth line guys. And, if you look at the Bolts roster of forwards, those are exactly the type of players they need. For instance, when all is said and done, when Brett Connolly and Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin/Nate MacKinnon/Sasha Barkov are all regular NHL players, a 25 year-old Alex Killorn might well find himself anchoring the Tampa Bay Lightning third line. And the prospect of having that kind of speed, size, and hockey IQ in a third line role, makes Tampa’s future look very bright.

- DFC
@DFrederickCook

March 16, 2013; Tampa FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas (75) against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period at Tampa Times Forum. Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It’s never easy to look back on disappointment.  The Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans had high hopes for this season, which makes this year tougher than most to swallow, and the fact that the Bolts got off to such a great start before imploding makes it almost impossible.  But look back we must, if we want to learn.

We knew there would be growing pains.  The rebuild is, after all, only a couple of steps past its infancy, and rebuilding primarily through the draft is always a long, hard road.  But with all the success in Norfolk/Syracuse, and with a much stronger NHL group than the previous season, no one guessed the team would actually take a step backward (at least in terms of results).  And while it’s important to be patient in times like these, it’s also important to recognize the difference between growing pains and underachievement.  This past season, the Lightning underachieved.

In this multi-part series of articles, we’ll first focus on the clearest remaining weakness of the Tampa Bay Lighting: the defense.  Starting the year, the Bolts appeared to have bolstered their blue line with the additions of Sami Salo and Matt Carle, and with the continuing maturation of Victor Hedman and Keith Aulie.  In the offensive zone, the Bolts blueliners were indeed improved, and defenders accounted for 20 Lightning goals this season.  That can be pro-rated to 34 goals over a full 82 game schedule, which is 10 more than the 24 they combined for in 2011/2012.

But of course, a defender’s main task is to defend.  And here’s where the Bolts struggled.  For long stretches of the season, even including the early season when they were winning regularly, the Bolts often found themselves pinned in their own zone for long, tiring stretches.  This specific issue (time in attack zone) improved significantly when Jon Cooper took over as the Lightning head coach, but the team still struggled to keep pucks out of its net – or at least, by the end of the season they were struggling not to give up more goals than they were managing to score.   Scoring, by season’s end, was also posing problems.

Statistics are tricky things.  At face value, they rarely give you a revealing look at what was, or was not, a problem.  You need to look deeper for that.  Such is true for the 2013Tampa Bay Lightning.  For instance, it’s easy to sum up the season by pointing to the Lightning’s 28th overall finish, 8 spots lower than they finished last year, and assume the team took a step back.  However, a closer look at the numbers reveals some surprising facts.  First and foremost, the team’s defense did improve.  While it’s still clearly not good enough, it did move up from worst in the league (3.39 GA) to 26th (3.06).

You’ll find similar improvements in almost every measurable statistic.  The Bolts scored 3.06 goals per game this season, compared to 2.83 goals per game last season.  They had the 13th best power play in the league, operating at 19%, compared to last season’s 25th best, 15.2% success rate.  Penalty killing?  Same story.  This season’s Lightning managed to kill 80.6% of their penalties, good for 19th best in the league, improving on last season’s 26th best 79.2%.

Unfortunately, the Bolts weren’t able to translate all of these improvements into an improved win/loss record.  But it’s important to note that, in a lot of ways, the team did take steps forward.  Of course, in hockey, winning is everything .   And that can never be overlooked.

But I digress.  Let us return our focus now to the team’s defensemen.  The Bolts might well have put a revolving door on their locker this year with all the players coming in and out of the lineup, going between Tampa and Syracuse.  When all was said and done, a total of 13 defensemen, from everyday players to emergency call-ups to single-game signings, had donned the Lightning uniform and registered an NHL game played.  By season’s end, Syracuse standout Radko Gudas had permanent job security in Tampa Bay while Marc-Andre Bergeron found himself in Carolina.  Such is life in the NHL.

So.  Who was good?  Who was bad?  Who was terrible?  Whom can we pin the Lightning’s defensive end blues to?  Well, like anything else in hockey, the answers to those questions are pretty muddy.  But I’ll do what I can.

For the sake of this article I’ll mention only players who appeared in 20 or more games.

THE DEFENSE

(Listed in numerical order…)

#2 Eric Brewer

(GP)48     (G)4     (A)8     (PTS)12     (+/-)3     (PIM)30     (ATOI)20:30

Eric Brewer started the season hot, but by mid-season he was spending long stretches of time largely invisible.  When Brewer was on his game, he looked often looked like the best of the Bolts’ defenders, standing out for his physical play, his skating, and his heady decisions with the puck.  Unfortunately, those nights were less the rule than the exception, and Brewer’s overall 2013 performance wasn’t noteworthy despite seeing significant improvements in most offensive categories.

Grade: C

Looking Forward: If the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to build a strong defense, Brewer’s role will be that of a 4th, 5th, or even 6th defenseman.  As a lower guy on the depth chart, he provides a solid physical game and good decision-making, and he can even bank you a timely goal now and again.  But the less important his role, the better, which calls his nearly $4 million cap hit into question.  The Lightning might end up shopping Brewer this off-season, but it’s hard to imagine many takers at that price.

#3 Keith Aulie

(GP)45     (G)2     (A)5     (PTS)7     (+/-)1     (PIM)60     (ATOI)12:49

Believe it or not, Keith Aulie took some solid steps forward this season.  Last season, he was a fringe NHLer; this season, he made a home for himself on the Bolts’ bottom pairing.  It’s important to remember that large defensemen take more time to develop, so at 6’6, and just 23 years old, Aulie is still a few years away from reaching his full potential.  He showed a little bit of offensive know-how this season, scoring a pair of goals and a career high seven points – but offense, with Aulie, is never going to be more than a bonus.  The key number is Aulie’s icetime, which improved more than 1.5 minutes/game over last season, and by the end of the year Aulie was upping that number by playing more than a minute per game above his season-long average.  When Aulie’s on his game, he’s a big, mean defenseman, and the bigger and meaner he plays, the better.  His play this season was somewhat typical of a developing player – one game he would stand out, the next he would disappear.  Consistency is usually the last piece of the puzzle, and that’s particularly true for big defensemen.

Grade: B-

Looking Forward: While Aulie took a step forward this season, no one can be too sure how many more steps he has left in him.  At best, he can be a dominating shut-down defenseman.  As is, he’s a dependable lower-depth chart guy who can provide solid physical play.  With several defense prospects coming down the pipe in Tampa, Aulie will need to continue developing for the sake of basic job security.

#6 Sami Salo

(GP)46     (G)2     (A)15     (PTS)17     (+/-)5     (PIM)16     (ATOI)20:59

For much of the season, Sami Salo was undeniably Tampa Bay’s best defenseman.  He was the single defenseman that could be counted on to make correct decisions in all situations, time and time again.  And he was consistent.  Salo was brought in to jump-start the Lightning powerplay, but powerplay production wound up being the least of his contributions.  That, however, was part of Tampa Bay’s problem – in a perfect world, Sami Salo is a good defenseman, but he’s not your best defenseman.  Luckily, by season’s end, things began to change, and both Victor Hedman and Matt Carle were more dependable.

Grade: A-

Looking Forward: If Sami Salo is anything more than a second pairing defenseman and a powerplay specialist, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in trouble.  Unfortunately, that was the case for large chunks of this season.  At 38, Salo likely doesn’t have much to do with the Bolts’ long-term plans, but he provides wonderful stability in the short-term, and there’s a lot that younger players can learn from him.  He rarely makes a bad decision with the puck.

#15 Brian Lee

(GP) 20    (G)0     (A) 0    (PTS) 0    (+/-) -13    (PIM)16     (ATOI)13:55

It was a nightmarish season for Lee, and the nightmare was made all the more horrific by the fact that, coming into the season, there was plenty of reason for optimism.  After being acquired by the Lightning at the trade deadline in 2012, Lee appeared invigorated, re-energized, and he looked like he would compete for a valuable role with the 2013 team.  But when the season began, Lee couldn’t seem to find any traction.  He didn’t appear to be playing poorly so much as he appeared to be the frequent victim of unfortunate events.  By the end, Lee was playing poorly, and on top of it, he was still getting unlucky.  All of that culminated in a disastrous season that saw him go pointless through 20 games, saw him post a team-worst -13 rating, and saw him a regular healthy scratch until he was finally assigned to Syracuse in late March.  It was hard to watch.

Grade: (An unfortunate) F (that he might not deserve)

Looking Forward: Your guess is as good as mine.

#25 Matthew Carle

(GP)48     (G)5     (A)17     (PTS)22     (+/-)1     (PIM)4     (ATOI)23:44

Perhaps no Tampa Bay Lightning player was more streaky in 2013 than Matt Carle.  He opened the season strong, scoring 9 points in Tampa Bay’s first 15 games.  But then he went into a funk that bordered on the on-ice version of clinical depression through the middle of the season – for a while it seemed he only made the rare appearance on our screens to make a costly mistake.  Everything changed the moment Jon Cooper took over behind the Bolts’ bench.  For whatever reason, Carle, more than any other player, responded to the new coach.  He scored 11 points in the team’s final 15 games , was solid (though not spectacular) in his own end, and was arguably Tampa Bay’s overall best defender – and that’s what he’s getting paid to be.

Grade: B- (because he came to life when the games were no longer important)

Looking Forward: As Lightning fans, we need to hope that Carle’s late-season surge was a direct result of Jon Cooper’s coaching style and not a simple anomaly.  April’s Matt Carle was a top-pair defenseman; March’s Matt Carle was a second-pair defenseman.  And, bluntly, that’s not good enough.  If April’s Matt Carle shows up for the entirety of the 2013/2014 season, it will solve a lot of Tampa Bay’s blue line problems.

#75 Radko Gudas

(GP)22     (G)2     (A)3     (PTS)5     (+/-) +3    (PIM)38     (ATOI)16:59

There’s a learning curve in the NHL, and it’s a steep one.  We can all think of a handful of AHL superstars who failed to ever reproduce their minor league success in the NHL.  But every once in a while a player comes along whose style of play translates so beautifully to the particulars of the NHL game, the speed and physicality of it, that he winds up being every bit as effective, if not more, than he was in the minor leagues.  Radko Gudas in one of those players.  It’s only in hindsight that we realize a player like Gudas was hard, if not impossible, to assess and project as an AHLer.  He looked great in the AHL, don’t get me wrong, throwing bone-crunching hits and racking up his weight in penalty minutes, but he was playing an NHL-style which made it hard to compare him to his peers.  I have been watching hockey my entire life, and never have I seen a physical defenseman step so seamlessly into the NHL. There were no jitters; there was no nervous energy that so often manifests itself in mistakes.  From his first game, Gudas played like a veteran, as if he’d seen every situation a million times.  What mistakes he made were fewer and farther between than the mistakes of his teammates.  By season’s end, he was arguably Tampa’s most valuable D-zone defender, and having him around helped soften the blow of Cory Conacher’s departure.

Grade: A+

Looking Forward: If Radkos Gudas can turn himself into a powerplay threat, he will be a 25-30 minute man in the NHL.  It’s possible – he has a big league shot, and perhaps the part of his game that surprised management the most this season was his ability to make good decisions with the puck.  As of right now, Gudas is a goldmine as a second-pair defenseman, but there are plenty of signs that even his offensive game might be uniquely suited to the NHL, meaning we might not yet know what he’s capable of.  He could surprise us.  I would be surprised if Gudas doesn’t average 18:00 per game in 2013/2014, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number get up in the 21:00 range.  Now, did you see all of that raving I did about Gudas?  Here’s the kicker – I didn’t even mention (until now) the fact that he threw four hits per game!

#77 Victor Hedman

(GP) 44    (G)4     (A)16     (PTS)20     (+/-)1     (PIM) 31    (ATOI)22:40

If there’s one thing to take comfort in concerning Victor Hedman, it’s that the flashes of brilliance are coming more and more frequently.  Hedman was consistently good this season while being inconsistently great.  He definitely made a step forward, but it probably wasn’t quite the step Tampa fans were hoping for.  While there’s no doubt about his athletic ability, there still remain some serious questions about his decision making.  It’s hard to be patient with players that possess as much skill as Hedman, but it is important to remember that he’s a defenseman – and a big defenseman, and a young defenseman.  As of now, it appears he has filled out his frame, and physically he appears to have no problem with the rigors and stresses of the NHL trenches.  But mentally, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Grade: B

Looking Forward: Much of the Lightning’s plans to build a contender are hinged on the assumption that Victor Hedman will sooner or later be an elite NHL defenseman.   The sooner he can establish himself as Tampa’s undisputed #1 blueliner, the cornerstone on which this team’s defense will be built, the better.  But it might be time to worry.  As of now, Hedman wouldn’t be better than a second-pairing guy on a good NHL defense.  After a stellar showing in the KHL during the lockout, there was a lot of optimism around Hedman coming into this season.  HHe needs a breakout season, and soon – otherwise it might be time to for the Bolts to reassess their expectations for him, and plan accordingly.

- – - -

In conclusion, it’s important to look at the Lightning’s defenseman in the context of team growth.  While that’s never fun when you’re losing, it does provide some answers for the losses.  Right now, Tampa Bay has a number of very good second pairing quality defensemen, but they are in desperate need of two players to take the blue line by the horns and establish themselves as top-pair guys.  Next season, barring a major change, those players must be Victor Hedman and Matt Carle.  Each of them assumed the role at varying points this season, but like everything else in Tampa this year, the problem was consistency.

Sami Salo and Radko Gudas were both stellar for the Bolts this year, but it’s important to keep in mind that they were stellar within the context of their expectations.  Neither Salo nor Gudas should be expected to lead the Lightning defense.  Gudas is surprising us every day, and maybe he’ll one day unlock the kind of offense that will win him first-pair minutes (a scary thought for each and every opponent).  Salo, on the other hand, has aged out of those expectations.  Eric Brewer is yet another second-pair quality defenseman.  And that’s the problem with this team – no one has proven themselves as a clear #1 or #2 guy.  Everyone, meanwhile, seems to be a quality #4.  (I maintain that Radko Gudas will slotted #3 for life, and I’m happy about that.)

The Depth Chart

1. Matt Carle

2. Victor Hedman

3. Radko Gudas

4. Sami Salo

5. Eric Brewer

6. Keith Aulie

7. Mark Barberio

a. Brian Lee, Brendan Mikkelson, Andrej Sustr, Matt Taormina

How will that depth chart look next year?  Tampa Bay is very likely to bring in one more defenseman from outside the organization.  If I had to bet, I would say it will be a stay-at-home, physical defenseman – a better version of Keith Aulie.  That will make both Aulie and Brewer’s spot in the depth chart vulnerable.  I think the Bolts will move Brewer if they can and hope Aulie is ready to assume more responsibility next year.

Meanwhile, it’s getting harder and harder for the Lightning to justify keeping Mark Barberio in the AHL.  He was not great in his two appearances with the Bolts this season, but growing pains for an offensively minded defenseman are to be expected.  The AHL can only season a player like that so much.  Barberio was named the AHL’s best defenseman in 2011/2012, and followed it up with a solid season this year.  The problem for Barberio is much the same as was the problem for Marc-Andre Bergeron this season – he’s an offensive defenseman on a team that struggles defensively.  That said, his puck-moving abilities can be very valuable if used to help get the Bolts out of their own end.  My guess is the Lightning will carry him as a seventh defenseman next year, and it will be up to him to force his way into a bigger role.

Tampa’s high profile 2012 draft pick, Slater Koekkoek is likely to find himself in Syracuse next season.  If all goes well, he’ll assume Mark Barberio’s role and the organization will develop him in a similarly patient manner.  There is, however, a chance that they’ll be ultra-patient with him and return him to junior for one final season before turning him pro in 2014.

Thanks for reading.

- DFC

@DFrederickCook