Three Lightning Players Due for Increased Roles in 2022-23.

1. Mikhail Sergachev

Through his first five seasons in the NHL, Mikhail Sergachev has been afforded the luxury of playing behind two of the best left-hand shot defenseman in the NHL, Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh.

In the first few seasons, Sergachev’s minutes were truthfully quite sheltered because they could be. In the most recent season’s his minutes and impact have greatly increased and he has often found himself around third of fourth among Lightning defenseman for time on ice.

Now, with McDonagh no longer around, Sergachev is now solidified as the left-hand shot on the Lightning’s second defense pairing. Between all of his special teams work, he has seen 20 minutes of ice time periodically over the last few seasons. That will now become a standard as he will likely be looking at ranking second only to Victor Hedman in ice time among Lightning defensemen.