The Tampa Bay Lightning have a big announcement on media day to begin training camp. Victor Hedman is the 11th captain in franchise history. After 15 seasons with the Lightning, the 33-year-old gets the ‘C.’
Tampa Bay Name Hedman Captain
Selected second overall by the Lightning in the 2009 draft, Hedman never missed a season for the Bolts. Up to this point, he’s played over 1,200 games between the regular season and playoffs. In that time, he’s scored 179 goals and 845 points. Over time, the Swede defenceman has built up quite the resume. In those 15 seasons in Tampa, in 2017-18, he won the Norris Trophy and was a finalist for three straight years after that. He also has his name engraved on two Stanley Cups as the Lightning went back-to-back in 2020 and 2021. After winning the 2020 Stanley Cup in the bubble, the defenceman was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Not to mention his duties with the national team. He’s medalled seven times with Sweden, including two gold medals at the 2008 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2017 World Championship. There’s another big competition coming up, the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament coming in February. Don’t be surprised if Hedman is the captain of that team too, as he’s already been selected to the team.
A New Era for the Bolts
Naming Hedman captain is a big change for the Lightning organization. For the last ten seasons, Tampa were led by superstar Steven Stamkos, as he was the captain for the Bolts. However, general manager Julien BriseBois couldn’t come to terms with the 34-year-old. As a result, he was signed to the Nashville Predators in the offseason. Now, it’s time to move on to a new leader, and Hedman is certainly a leader. Hedman joins just two others as the only Swede’s in the NHL who currently serve as captains. The other two are Mikael Backlund of the Calgary Flames and Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche.
