The Tampa Bay Lightning‘s blue line has the potential to develop into one of the best defense cores in the NHL heading into the 2024-25 season. Newly named captain Victor Hedman leads one of the deepest blue lines in the league after some big changes this offseason. Management re-acquired Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators in a trade this summer and traded star defender Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club.
With less than two weeks until opening night against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Lightning continue to finalize their roster and make cuts. At the moment, they have eight NHL-ready defensemen in the organization, but one player still in the mix is 23-year-old Emil Lilleberg, who might beat out the Hedman’s defense partner from last season, Darren Raddysh for the sixth spot on the third pairing next to Nick Perbix.
Lilleberg emerging onto the scene over Raddysh would be a big surprise, as Raddysh looked like a top-four defender last season. With that, why does Lilleberg deserve a roster spot?
Lilleberg’s 2023-24 Season in Review
The Norwegian defender was called up midway through the 2023-24 season after the Lightning’s blue line was depleted by injuries. Lilleberg played 37 games in his rookie season, recording five assists, and he appeared in all five Tampa Bay playoff games, where he was held scoreless. Before his NHL call-up, Lilleberg notched two goals and 13 points in 33 games for the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League.
He is a heavy, old-school-style defender. He loves to throw his weight around and play responsible defense. He was the perfect third-pairing option for the Bolts last season, keeping the opponent’s third and fourth lines off the score sheet.
While Lilleberg didn’t provide much offense in his rookie season, there is plenty of room to grow for the 2021 fourth-round pick. My microstats database from last season shows Lilleberg is a solid defensive player who can defend the rush. The database consists of eight games of shots and passes data throughout the season and 12 games of transition data (zone entries, zone exits, rush defense). In five tracked games, Lilleberg had a +9 defensive zone turnover differential (DZ forced turnovers – DZ giveaways). Moreover, he defended 23.61% of the rush attempts, which ranked top-five among Lightning defenders. These microstats project a potential full-time third-pairing blueliner in the making, and it would be a bonus to add another left-handed shot to the back end.
Does Lilleberg Crack Roster over Raddysh?
With J.J. Moser ready to develop into a first-pairing defenseman alongside Hedman, Raddysh may get the short end of the stick to open the season. After all, Raddysh was benched over rookies Lilleberg and Max Crozier in the team’s first-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers. While Raddysh may not have impressed the Lightning coaching staff lately, he belongs on an NHL roster after his solid play last season, and management will want to hold onto him in case of injury or they want to use him as trade bait to upgrade on forward and add draft capital.
The Lightning ranked 28th at 5-on-5 goals against per 60 (GA/60) last season, partly due to subpar goaltending. However, that does not excuse the fact that the team has declined defensively over the past few seasons. Head coach Jon Cooper and assistant coach Jeff Blashill may be looking for a more “tough as nails” and defensive blue line to support Andrei Vasilevskiy in the crease. The battle for the final few roster spots will play out over the next two weeks, but don’t be surprised to see Lilleberg on the opening-night roster over Raddysh.
