Few NHL players pushed the pace of play more than Dominic James last season.
After weeks of recovery from a broken hand, James is set to bring that speed back to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup in his season debut, set for Thursday’s 7 p.m. matchup against the Seattle Kraken at Benchmark International Arena.
“He just helps with our pace when he's in, and that was evident last year,” coach Jon Cooper said. “You could tell we weren't as fast a team when he wasn't in, and he's got skill, he can lean on a team just the way he plays."
James’ skating helped him earn a regular NHL role as a rookie last season, and he finished with seven goals and 15 points in 43 games after joining the organization as a free agent.
He was among the league’s fastest skaters in 2025-26, illustrated by his ranking in the 97th percentile of all NHL players with a max skating speed of 23.71 mph and in the 96th percentile with 19 separate speed bursts of at least 22 mph.
“It opens up the neutral zone a lot,” teammate Gage Goncalves said of James’ speed. “I think he's gonna start getting more and more respect out there from the other teams’ defensemen and them hopefully giving him a bigger gap, and that helps everybody that's out there when the defense is pushed back because you’ve got a little bit of extra time to make a play.”
His return provides more than just an uptick in pace, too, as James filled numerous roles for the Lightning last season.
He won 50.4% of his faceoffs as a rookie, second-best on the team, and filled multiple roles before an ankle injury sidelined him for the final two months of the regular season. He then returned for the playoffs and recorded two goals and three points, joining Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel as the only Lightning players with multiple goals in a first round series against Montreal.
“DJ is such a special player,” Anthony Cirelli said. “His motor, the way he skates, the way he can make plays and finish, he brings a lot of juice to our game with his speed flying up and down the ice. He's pretty talkative on the bench, too, and gets the guys going. So I’m glad that he's back and excited to see him out there tonight."
James suffered his offseason injury in his first skate after returning to Tampa this fall, breaking a bone in his palm when his stick jammed into the boards. The ensuing weeks focused on rehab, rebuilding his strength and finding other ways to better his game.
During his recovery, James worked with assistant coach Dan Hinote, who challenged him to study how Ilya Mikheyev—another speedy Lightning forward—utilizes his speed on the penalty kill.
James also attended special teams meetings and focused on improving his conditioning to bring a more well-rounded game upon his return.
“It’s just working on his mindset that this injury isn't a negative thing. It's a positive thing,” Hinote said. “It sucks because of the timing, but let's use it, right? Then he's able to do that, and then that makes him better on the ice. It stays positive and he's adding to his game, which builds confidence, and it kind of snowballs from there.”
The hardest part of the recovery was more mental than physical, the forward said, but he’s ready to go ahead of his season debut.
“It was just the thought that I did all that work over the summer and kind of had momentum from the playoffs. I had just got done handling my ankle, and then a freak injury like this kind of ruins a lot of things that I had planned for myself throughout training camp,” James said. “It's just another point of adversity for me to get back and be the player I want to be.”
He got his first game action over the weekend with a pair of AHL games for the Syracuse Crunch before being recalled on Wednesday. His focus to start the year is on pushing the pace, helping in the defensive zone and building on last year’s playoffs.
He carries high expectations for himself this season.
“I'd like to pick up right where I left off there in that last playoff series,” James said. “I think as it went on and as I started feeling healthier and healthier I could make an impact on the game, and I'd like to do that more this year and take some weight off the bigger minute guys. I’m really trying to uplift not only the D-zone but get some offensive play going.”
James’ speed adds value to the Lightning lineup, as will his relentless style of play.
“He's also got a little rat-ish behavior. He stirs up the pot, he's in the mix all the time. He kind of reminds me of a young Yanni Gourde because Gourde doesn't know how to turn it off, and you can't have enough guys like that,” Hinote said.
“Those guys become invaluable as the season wears on and you're in game 42 and you're a D-man that's 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and you’ve got this little rat at the front of the net. You're like, 'God, I don't have the energy for this kid’, and now you're just a little bit less of a player. There's a lot to his game that adds intangibles to our team."
