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

With Tampa Bay Lightning training camp not too far on the horizon, it’s time to take a look at which players may be due for a increase in their roles for the upcoming season.

Major departures like Ondrej Palat and Ryan McDonagh mean that there are significant roles that need filling up front and on the back end. On top of that, the Lightning will also be without top six forward, Anthony Cirelli and defenseman, Zach Bogosian.

Here is a look at three players who are likely looking at an increase on their workload from a season ago.

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.

2. Brandon Hagel

When Brandon Hagel landed in Tampa Bay prior to the trade deadline this season, he landed in a much different situation from where he came from with Chicago.  While it was nice to find himself on a contending team, he was no longer able to play on the opposite wing of Patrick Kane.

No longer a top line player, Hagel found himself in more of a checking role further down the lineup. Hagel was an effective player in this sort of role, but his potential went rather untapped in his time with the Lightning, especially in the playoffs. A big part of that was the broken foot he sustained blocking a shot in round two against Florida.

There is reason to believe that with increased opportunity further up in the lineup with Tampa Bay, that Hagel can post similar numbers to the 21 goals in 55 games with Chicago. With Ondrej Palat no longer around, Hagel is one who could draw consideration to take the left wing spot opposite of Nikita Kucherov on the Lightning’s top line.