The Tampa Bay Lightning are going to have Olympic representation after all as defense prospect Nick Perbix was named as one of Team USA’s eight defensemen.
Introducing the 25 men headed to Beijing! 👏#WinterOlympics | @TeamUSA 🇺🇸
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) January 13, 2022
The likelihood of the Lightning having representation at the 2022 Olympics took a major hit when the NHL and NHLPA announced in December that NHL players would not be participating in the 2022 Olympics. However, college players not signed to NHL contracts (which is all college players) are not included in the NHL’s withdraw from the Olympics and thus are able to compete for their home countries if selected.
Perbix is a 23-year-old 6-foot-4 200-pound right-handed defenseman drafted by the Lightning in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. He is currently a Senior at St. Cloud State and has posted a goal and 11 assists through 18 games so far this season. Perbix is not going to be expected to be an enforcer, or the main driver of offense, but his size and smarts should make him a reliable option on the US blue line.
There is uncertainty as to how much playing time Perbix will receive, but he appears to be in a good position as the right-handed defensemen on Team USA are less experienced than their left-handed counterparts. On the right side, Steven Kampfer, a 33-year-old currently with Ak Bars in the KHL, figures to be the steadying force but the order behind him is unclear at this point.
The candidates are Perbix, Drew Helleson (COL 2019 2nd), and Brock Faber (LAK 2020 2nd). Helleson is 6-foot-3 and Faber is 6-foot, so neither are quite as big as Perbix, but neither are they going to be disadvantaged in a major way by their respective heights. However, Perbix will hold a sizeable experience advantage over the other two as he is nearly three years older than Helleson and four years older than Faber. His additional experience should secure him regular playing time during the Olympics for Team USA.
Tampa Bay native Nathan Smith selected for Team USA
We also want to give a quick shot-out to Hudson native Nathan Smith as he was one of the 25 players selected for Team USA. Smith was drafted in the third round of the 2018 draft by the Winnipeg Jets and is currently a Junior with the Minnesota State Mavericks NCAA hockey team.
Nick Perbix and Team USA will begin their Olympic slate of games on February 10 against China.