HighDanger

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Atlantic Division · Est. 1992

Tampa Bay Lightning

2025–26 · 50–26–6 · 106 pts · #2 Atlantic

Cup 2020Cup 2021GM: Julien BriseBois

STANLEY CUP

2021

2020

2004

Team xGF%

53.4

% · all situations · HighDanger xG

5th in NHL

Identity

Speed-skill veteran

Aging core, window narrowing

Contention window

Narrowing

Two straight R1 exits

Coach

Cooper

Possession-first architect

Avg age · forwards

29.8

Aging core

Team Identity

Speed-skill veteran · Window narrowing

Nikita Kucherov is still one of the game's best, pacing the Bolts with 130 points, and Jake Guentzel chipped in 88 as Tampa's offense stayed dangerous. But the shine has come off the contender label: back-to-back first-round exits, falling to Florida in 2024-25 and then to Montreal in seven games in 2025-26. Victor Hedman was limited to 33 games, exposing a thinner blue line, which is why the summer's headline move was bringing in John Carlson from Anaheim to steady the back end after losing Darren Raddysh and depth center Nick Paul to Toronto. Andrei Vasilevskiy remains a steadying force in net, and Jon Cooper's group still plays fast, structured hockey, but with an aging core and Brayden Point missing time, the window that produced three straight Cup Finals runs is clearly narrowing.

2025-26 team profile · ranked out of 32

53.4%

xGF%

5th of 32

+34.5

xG diff

5th of 32

3.33

xGF / game

5th of 32

2.91

xGA / game

8th of 32

+13

Finishing

7th of 32

+10

Goaltending

10th of 32

3,568

Unblocked att. for

14th of 32

3,281

Unblocked att. against

5th of 32

All situations, not 5-on-5. Our own xG model.

Player stats · 2025-26

Forwards13

PlayerPosGPGAPShotsTOI/GP2026-27 proj

Nikita KucherovRW76448613023120:20128 Jake GuentzelLW8138508822020:1584 Brandon HagelLW7136387421419:4682 Anthony CirelliC7123295212517:1956 Brayden PointC6318325012918:1575 Ilya MikheyevRW7718183612317:2637 Gage GoncalvesLW741122337713:0533 Yanni GourdeC829192811416:2231 Pontus HolmbergC701111229013:2127 Zemgus GirgensonsC74911208914:4620 Dominic JamesC4378155612:1429 Jeffrey VielLW4537106211:5619 Conor GeekieRW14123109:5421

Defense7

PlayerPosGPGAPShotsTOI/GP2026-27 proj

John CarlsonD7114466015323:1057 Charle-Edouard D'AstousD70623298018:4534 J.J. MoserD797222911121:3430 Ryan McDonaghD48615213919:1529 Victor HedmanD33116175018:5248 Emil LillebergD5048124317:1819 Erik CernakD6138115317:3717

Goaltending

GoalieGPRecordSV%GAAGSAx

Andrei Vasilevskiy5839-15-4.9122.31+25.1 Jonas Johansson2511-10-2.8843.29-9.3 Dennis Hildeby205-7-4.9142.86+9.3

Current lineup, last season's numbers, so some were earned with another club. A dash means no games played. At the opener both notes stop applying: the numbers become this team, this season.

Cap situation · 2026-27

Cap committed

$100.77M

of $104.0M

Cap space

$3.23M

Players signed

23/23

roster full

Pending RFAs

team-controlled

Cap utilization97%

Lines · cap by group

Forwards13 signed · $54.9M committed

Line 1$28.0M

LW1Jake Guentzel

$9.0M · thru 2031

81 GP · 38G · 50A · 88P

C1Brayden Point

$9.5M · thru 2031

63 GP · 18G · 32A · 50P

RW1Nikita Kucherov

$9.5M · thru 2027

76 GP · 44G · 86A · 130P

Line 2$13.95M

LW2Brandon Hagel

$6.5M · thru 2032

71 GP · 36G · 38A · 74P

C2Anthony Cirelli

$6.25M · thru 2031

71 GP · 23G · 29A · 52P

RW2Gage Goncalves

$1.2M · thru 2027

74 GP · 11G · 22A · 33P

Line 3$4.81M

LW3Zemgus Girgensons

$925K · thru 2027

74 GP · 9G · 11A · 20P

C3Yanni Gourde

$2.33M · thru 2031

82 GP · 9G · 19A · 28P

RW3Pontus Holmberg

$1.55M · thru 2027

70 GP · 11G · 11A · 22P

Line 4$7.26M

LW4Jeffrey Viel

$2.5M · thru 2031

45 GP · 3G · 7A · 10P

C4Dominic James

$910K · thru 2027

43 GP · 7G · 8A · 15P

RW4Ilya Mikheyev

$3.85M · thru 2030

77 GP · 18G · 18A · 36P

Press Box$887K

RWConor Geekie

$887K · thru 2027

14 GP · 1G · 2A · 3P

Defense7 signed · $34.27M committed

Pair 1$15.25M

D1J.J. Moser

$6.75M · thru 2034

79 GP · 7G · 22A · 29P

D2John Carlson

$8.5M · thru 2028

71 GP · 14G · 46A · 60P

Pair 2$8.88M

D3Victor Hedman

$8.0M · thru 2029

33 GP · 1G · 16A · 17P

D4Charle-Edouard D'Astous

$875K · thru 2027

70 GP · 6G · 23A · 29P

Pair 3$9.3M

D5Ryan McDonagh

$4.1M · thru 2029

48 GP · 6G · 15A · 21P

D6Erik Cernak

$5.2M · thru 2031

61 GP · 3G · 8A · 11P

Press Box$850K

DEmil Lilleberg

$850K · thru 2027

50 GP · 4G · 8A · 12P

Goalies3 signed · $11.59M committed

G1Andrei Vasilevskiy

$9.5M · thru 2028

58 GP · 39-15-4 · .912 SV%

G2Jonas Johansson

$1.25M · thru 2027

25 GP · 11-10-2 · .884 SV%

G3Dennis Hildeby

$842K · thru 2028

20 GP · 5-7-4 · .914 SV%

Cap & contracts FAQ · 2026-27

How much salary cap space do the Tampa Bay Lightning have in 2026-27?

The Tampa Bay Lightning have $3.23M in salary cap space for the 2026-27 season, with $100.77M committed against the $104.0M cap (97% utilization).

Who is the highest-paid player on the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Nikita Kucherov is the Tampa Bay Lightning's highest-paid player with a $9.5M cap hit, signed through 2027.

How many players do the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed for 2026-27?

The Tampa Bay Lightning have 23 players signed toward the 23-man active roster (roster full).

Who are the Tampa Bay Lightning's highest-paid players?

The Tampa Bay Lightning's top cap hits for 2026-27 are Nikita Kucherov ($9.5M), Brayden Point ($9.5M), Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5M).

5-year points history

Regular-season points, last five seasons.

Organization strength

Current NHL lineup only, weighted by NHL Equivalency. Bar shows team vs league average (marker at center).

Forwards · 13 50.4

top Nikita Kucherov (140.3) league 43.0 NHLe pts/82

Defense · 7 35.1

top John Carlson (69.3) league 27.5 NHLe pts/82

Goalies · 3 .903

top Dennis Hildeby (0.914) league .895 SV%

Injury report (0)

via CBS Sports

No injuries reported - offseason (updated in September).

Similar historical cores

Closest historical team-seasons by points pace, goals for, and goals against (era-normalized z-score, since 1967–68). Click any card to open a side-by-side compare.