In the midst of what’s been a very difficult season, defenseman Victor Hedman has stood out as a beacon of strength for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite the team’s inability to consistently get into the win-column, Hedman hasn’t allowed his game to slip, continuing on as one of the league’s most dominant forces at his position. With seven goals and thirty assists to his record in just 42 games played, Hedman has been producing at nearly a point-per-game level all season long; a ridiculously rare feat for any defenseman. His thirty assist total is good for first among all NHL defensemen in the category. Behind only San Jose’s Brent Burns (39) in total points scored among defenders, Hedman (37) is currently on pace for a 14-goal, 59-assist campaign. Should those numbers hold true, Hedman will assuredly land front and center in the Norris Trophy discussion.
Perhaps even more remarkable than the gaudy offensive totals is the fact that Hedman has managed to generate offense at such a prolific level without sacrificing performance at his own end of the ice. During a year in which his team has struggled to keep the puck out of its own net (27th in goals against), Hedman remains one of only five players on the Lightning roster with a positive plus/minus (+1). Averaging more than twenty-four and a half minutes of ice time per game, the most of any Tampa Bay player, the Swedish rearguard has been the unquestioned rock of the Lightning defense.
While a fine argument can be made in favor of sharpshooting winger Nikita Kucherov, who’s 16 goals and 39 points are both tops among all Lightning players, Tampa Bay’s most valuable player so far this year has certainly been Hedman. If you remove number 77 from the equation, the Lightning would find themselves even further removed from the playoff picture in a highly precarious situation.
With the calendar now flipped to 2017, it has been a full six months since Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman made the decision to sign Hedman to a massive eight-year, $63-million contract extension. The deal, one of the largest contracts ever handed out by the organization, has paid off handsomely for the Lightning so far. At just 26 years of age, Hedman has already established himself as one of the premiere defenders in the entire hockey world– and over the course of his new contract in Tampa Bay, he could very easily push for Number 1.
Follow me on Twitter @_BWoodward and please “like” LightningShout on Facebook. You can email us at [email protected].
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
