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Three Key Storylines for the Lightning This Preseason
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- Three Key Storylines for the Lightning This Preseason
The Tampa Bay Lightning have only been in training camp for a few days, but the regular season is now less than two weeks away.
With the NHL's shortened preseason, teams have just four exhibition games to evaluate their rosters. That makes this a quick window for players to make an impression and for the Lightning to work through some of the biggest questions surrounding the team.
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As Tampa Bay gets ready for the start of the regular season, here are three storylines to watch:
Sam O'Reilly's Preseason Opportunity
Sam O'Reilly made his preseason debut Sunday against Nashville , giving him an early opportunity to show the Lightning what he can bring to the lineup. He's coming off back-to-back Memorial Cup championships and was voted the OHL's most outstanding player in 2025-26 before being named MVP of the OHL playoffs and Memorial Cup.
The 20-year-old has a chance to earn a spot on the opening-night roster with his strong two-way game. O'Reilly also won six of eight faceoffs Sunday, showing his ability to win on the right side, an area where Tampa Bay needed a boost last season.
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"It was great because when they had the faceoffs on the right side, he won them," Jon Cooper said after the game. "Some of these kids, you're going to get to watch play some of these games. You've got to put them in these situations and see what they can do and see where they can excel, and I thought he was excellent all the way around."
Victor Hedman Looks Ahead After Stepping Away Last Season
After playing just 33 games last season, Victor Hedman stepped away from the team to address his mental health. Now he's returned to the ice looking visibly faster than he did in March.
"I expect to get the rust off and get the timing right, making plays and skating," Hedman said of his expectations before Sunday's game. "So all the fundamentals to my game, and try to do as much as I can tonight."
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Since the start of training camp, Hedman has been paired with 26-year-old defenseman Max Crozier , who has worked his way up from Syracuse over the years. Crozier is looking for his opportunity as well.
The Lightning dealt with a number of injuries to the blue line last season, giving a new group of players valuable NHL experience in the process. Now, Tampa Bay has eight defensemen competing for spots, creating a pretty good problem to have heading into the regular season.
"The bottom line is guys are going to have to earn jobs. That's just the way it is, and there's going to be some really, really hard decisions," said assistant coach Rob Zettler. "We'll see what happens in the exhibition games. Over the four exhibition games, all those guys are going to get a chance to play, and that's what it's going to come down to. We've got to field the best lineup we can, even though sometimes it means some really hard decisions and sending players out. Maybe they don't deserve it, maybe they do deserve it. Depends on what the play will dictate, but we'll see."
Throughout training camp, the Lightning have also kept Ryan McDonagh alongside Erik Cernak and Emil Lilleberg with Charle-Edouard D'Astous, while newly signed John Carlson has been paired with J.J. Moser .
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New Additions Look to Carve Out Roles in Tampa Bay
Making the Lightning's opening night roster isn't easy, and this year there's even more competition for spots. With Nikita Kucherov , Brayden Point , Brandon Hagel , Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel all locked into the top six, there aren't a ton of opportunities available. Right now, it looks like Ilya Mikheyev will round out that group.
His speed and ability to kill penalties were among the things that drew the Lightning in. Tampa Bay signed Mikheyev to a four-year deal this summer with a $3.85 million average annual value. He scored the first goal of the preseason, finding the back of the net just 93 seconds into Sunday's game.
Jeffrey Viel could make his preseason debut Tuesday in Nashville. He signed a five-year, $12.5 million contract on July 1. The Lightning have wanted to add this type of physicality to their lineup for years, but salary cap constraints made it difficult. With more flexibility this summer, they were able to address it.
Viel has been skating on a line with Pontus Holmberg and Zemgus Girgensons throughout camp.
