The D’Astous Diary is a series looking behind the scenes at Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous’ first career experience of the ins and outs of the Stanley Cup Playoffs through 1-on-1 interviews.
Charle-Edouard D’Astous has been busy over the last few days.
The native of Rimouski, Quebec has been visited frequently by members of the media ahead of a First Round 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup between D’Astous’ Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens.
As Game 1 looms with Sunday’s 5:45 p.m. start at Benchmark International Arena, the 27-year-old defenseman’s Stanley Cup Playoffs initiation also awaits after he helped the Lightning reach the postseason in his first season in the NHL.
“I'm really excited. I think it's gonna be a fun time,” D’Astous said of the playoffs. “Everyone's dreaming of that and I’m really happy to be able to play right away in my first year. Some guys have to wait many years before playing in the playoffs, so I'm really happy and really excited. It should be a fun series."
The defenseman scored six goals and added 23 assists in his first NHL regular season with Tampa Bay and tied for second on the team with 29 points. He brought the physicality, too, leading the team with 112 penalty minutes.
He experienced his fair share of NHL firsts during the 2025-26 season and also scored his third NHL goal against the Canadiens on Dec. 9 while registering a plus-5 rating that was the best of any Bolt and tied for the best single-game rate in the league.
Now, D'Astous faces that same Montreal team in a best-of-seven series. He knows it's a unique situation to play the team whose jerseys flooded the community in which he was raised, but his focus is within the Bolts room.
“I'm focusing on myself and on this team rather than whoever we're playing. I think everyone who's playing against Montreal, they have great fans and it’s a loud building and everything with all the history there,” he said. “So for sure it's fun, but for myself, if it was another team I would still have the same mindset. I'm focused on myself and this Lightning team.”
Despite growing up about six hours from Montreal, the Pittsburgh Penguins were D’Astous’ favorite team growing up because he enjoyed watching his favorite player in Sidney Crosby. The defenseman still stayed up to date on Canadiens happenings as a Quebec resident.
“I remember when they went to the Conference Final in 2014, and all of Quebec was going crazy, going nuts. And then in 2021 when they reached the Final, all of Quebec was behind them and all of the provinces were rooting for them. It's cool to feel that and to live that, but I never got to see them win,” he said Saturday.
A smile then snuck across his face. He expects Montreal to be eager for the series to start, but he’s aiming for the same result as that 2021 Stanley Cup final—a Lightning victory.
“Just growing up, during the season Montreal fans were crazy about them. But then when the playoffs start, it's just another level. So it's cool to be able to see that when you’re growing up.
“But hopefully they won't win now.”
