The Tampa Bay Lightning blue line is stacked full of NHL defenders—and healthy competition as a result—this season.
Tampa Bay opened training camp with eight defensemen who played at least 30 NHL games a season ago. With the preseason officially wrapped up, the Lightning appear poised to begin this season with all eight on the roster as they claw for spots in the opening night lineup.
“Guys are going to have to earn jobs,” assistant coach Rob Zettler said earlier this training camp. “That's just the way it is. There's going to be some really, really hard decisions, and we'll see what happens in the exhibition games.”
JJ Moser stays atop the Lightning lead pairing, skating alongside offseason addition John Carlson. Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak remain a steady combination, while Victor Hedman and Max Crozier have been another common look during training camp.
Emil Lilleberg and Charle-Edouard D’Astous, who established themselves as a physical duo in 2025-26, have also frequently skated together. D’Astous skated with Crozier on a pairing on Saturday in Sunrise, the only two of the bunch who played in the preseason finale.
“It gives you a lot of confidence on the back end,” Crozier said of the team’s depth. “Camp-wise, though, there's a healthy competition for ice time. All of us want to better the team, and we all have our skills and assets to do so. You’ve just got to put your best foot forward and show the staff what we can do.”
Tampa Bay’s confidence in its defensive corps comes with merit, too—the Lightning allowed 229 goals last season, third fewest of any team. Tampa Bay also finished fifth in the NHL for both goals and points scored by defenders.
That came during a season in which injuries dismantled the blue line, as 12 different defensemen played a regular season game for Tampa Bay. Multiple defensemen were elevated into larger roles than expected, and the rotating cast persisted.
Some of those players have departed in offseason moves, but the addition of Carlson as well as Hedman’s motivated return have kept the competition steady. The team has operated with a setup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen at times over the past two seasons, spreading ice time across a multifaceted group.
Could we see that again this season to keep the group fresh? Time will tell.
“It's super rare, especially in the NHL, when an organization has so many players who can play,” Cernak said. "I feel like every single defenseman on the roster is an NHL defenseman, so obviously it's a little bit competitive and you want to be at your best, but it's also nice to have so many guys here."
Carlson, Cernak and Crozier are the lone right-handed defensemen in the group, but multiple left-handed defenders can play on the right side. Lilleberg played on the right side lsat season and has stayed there so far this training camp, while D’Astous has also played on his off-hand.
Playing time is up for grabs among the NHL group, and skating will remain a top priority for the group regardless of the defensive pairings or combinations.
Expectations for Tampa Bay’s blue line remain high.
“I could run down the line and list them and tell you what they all bring,” Zettler said of the group.
“The bottom line for me is, there's a standard that we expect everybody to do, and we want to increase that every year. I thought we did a really good job of skating last year, a much better job of skating last year than prior years with joining the rush on breakouts, all of it. And that's my big sell this training camp is to just be on your toes, skate, skate, skate and show numbers on the rush.”
