Before the NHL season began, Victor Hedman was named the newest captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Why? Steven Stamkos was allowed to walk into free agency, therefore leaving a vacancy in the Lightning leadership group. Stamkos signing with the Nashville Predators was indeed one of the biggest piecesof news during the entire NHL off-season. In the midst of every new outlet imaginable reporting on this very subject, Victor Hedman was left speechless. To add icing to the cake, NHL.com announced Hedman would be named the 11th Captain in franchise history. If Hedman was already speechless, he was now at a complete loss for words.
In order to fully review Hedman’s first season as the captain of an NHL franchise, one first needs to examine the context of his captaincy.
As per NHL.com, Victor Hedman was drafted in 2009, one year after Steven Stamkos‘s rookie season. For as long as Victor Hedman was a bolt, so was Stamkos. The two quickly became the latest next dynamic duo of Tampa Bay. While Stamkos was scoring goals on one side of the ice, Hedman was stopping them on the other. The pair went through every failure and success with each other. From the devastating loss of the 2015 Stanley Cup final to the cherished back-to-back Stanley cup run in 2020 and 2021, Stamkos and Hedman practically became brothers.
So when Stamkos left for the Nashville Predators in the summer of 2024, one can only imagine what Hedman was thinking. For the entirety of Hedman‘s career, he never knew a Tampa Bay Lightning roster without Stamkos. Now, Hedman was poised to be the next captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Where does one even begin? For Hedman, one great place to start is the ice.
The 2024–2025 NHL regular season saw a dominance from Victor Hedman. Known for his offensive defenseman type play, NHL.com has Hedman recording 66 points, 15 goals, and 51 assists. Notably, Hedman scored 26 power play points as per NHL.com. With Mikhail Sergachev also leaving during the NHL off-season due to trade, Hedman was set to be the main quarterback of the Tampa Bay Lightning power play. Although the Lightning power-play was fairly consistent throughout the season finishing the season at a remarkable 25.9% as per NHL.com, Tampa very much missed Stamkos’s famous one time shot from the left circle. Through it all, Hedman was able to have a great season. Captain Hedman solidified the standard of Lightning hockey, thereby lifting all those around him to a new level.
Any captain must lead by example. Should a captain not practice what he preaches, his team will effectively collapse. This cannot be said for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Victor Hedman showed himself to be a true veteran leader. Despite the Tampa Bay Lightning’s early round exit in the playoffs, Hedman did the best he could. The goal of any captain in the NHL is to lead their team to the Stanley Cup. However, to get there in the first place, one needs to start with getting to the playoffs. The result was not what Tampa Bay Lightning fans wanted whatsoever, but the future is bright.
The Lightning were in a very messy situation at the start of the 2024-2025 regular season. All the noise and changes surely brought stress to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stamkos leaving, Sergachev traded, and the arrival of Jake Guentzel all in one summer. So much uncertainty crowded the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hedman was able to skillfully calm the waters with his leadership and punch his team a ticket to the NHL playoffs. With one year of captaincy under his belt now, Hedman is looking to make a deep run for the Stanley Cup next year. Watch out for Lightning Captain Victor Hedman next season because he will not be going away quietly into the night.