Tampa Bay Lightning Report Cards: The Defense
#77 Victor Hedman
My 2013/2014 Forecast: Another baby step, 35-40 points, a career year, some lapses in decision-making, 22-24 minutes per game.
GP: 75 G: 13 A: 42 Pts: 55 +/-: 5 PIM: 53
Mar 24, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77) skates with the puck against the Ottawa Senators during the first period at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Victor Hedman blew any and all expectations out of the water this season. For instance, my best case scenario for Hedman read as follows: “Emerges as the player we hope he’s going to be, scores 45-50 points, dominates defensively.” Even that fell short of what Hedman actually did this season, scoring 55 points in just 75 games, while taking more steps defensively at the same time.
While Hedman still makes defensive mistakes, several of them, really, I would argue that he has become dominant in his own end. Hedman is a deceptively physical player. While it’s rare to see him throwing Radko Gudas-like body checks, Hedman does use his size and strength to push opponents off the puck along the boards. He’s now unquestionably Tampa Bay’s first option in all situations, and that has been a major key to the Lightning’s surprising season.
Hedman really started turning the jets on in November, sometime after Steven Stamkos went down with a broken leg. In October, Hedman scored just five points and was a -2 in 12 games, and averaged 20:27 in icetime. His icetime didn’t dip below 21 minutes in any other month, nor did he score lower than 0.5 points-per-game in any other month of the season.
Grade: A+
Looking Ahead: We can hope that Hedman’s breakout year is only a taste of what’s to come. Realistically, it’s hard to expect anything better than what Hedman was this year. Maybe fewer defensive zone lapses in judgement. Then again, given how Hedman blew away expectations this year, I don’t think we can really know for sure what he has in store for us. It’ll be fun to watch.