Victor Hedman: Tampa Bay's bright spot on defense

Victor Hedman was a bright spot on Tampa Bay's defense. (Getty Images)

The play of Victor Hedman was one of the few bright spots for the Tampa Bay Lightning defense during the 2011-12 season.

It was also a performance that probably didn't get enough attention due to the team's defensive and goaltending struggles around him. It was a big step forward in the career of one of the NHL's best young defensemen.

What stood out the most about Hedman's play was how heavily the Lightning leaned on him to not only play a lot minutes (his 23 minutes per game were tops on the team), but to also play some of the heaviest minutes in the NHL.

For much of the season Hedman was used almost exclusively against other teams top scoring lines, he killed penalties, and he started the overwhelming majority of his shifts in his own zone. That is a difficult role for even a seasoned veteran, and it's not one you usually see for a defenseman that's still only 21 years old and entered the season with only 153 NHL games under his belt. Defenseman take time to develop, and usually get sheltered early in their careers as to not get overexposed.

Hedman was anything but sheltered this past season.

I don't know that the Lightning planned that sort of usage for him when the season began, or if it was done out of necessity due to combination of injuries along the blue line and a lack of depth. The Lightning lost veteran Mattias Ohlund, their big-minute defenseman over the previous two years, for the entire season. His absence shifted a lot of the responsibility to Hedman and his primary partner, Eric Brewer.

"Part of it was Ohlund being out, but that's also where he's at in his development," said Lightning assistant coach Dan Lacroix in a phone interview this week. "For a defenseman it takes a lot of games. A lot more than it would for somebody like a forward to master their position in the NHL. It takes more time and Victor is still a very young defenseman, and for him to have all those minutes, defensive zone draws, PK minutes, playing against the best lines in the league every night, that's a lot to ask.

"But he responded really well. He's a kid that thrives with challenges and really puts pressure on himself to perform, not only offensively but he also wants to take care of his own end."

Just to get an idea as to the type of assignments Hedman had to handle last season, let's take a look at the 25 forwards he saw the most ice-time against last season during 5-on-5 play.

Obviously there will be a lot of Southeast Division players on the list since that's who Tampa Bay played against the most, but the table is a who's who of the best offensive players in the division. Along with the ice-time against, the table below also includes Corsi events (shot attempts) for and against (CEF and CEA) and goals for and against when Hedman was on the ice against each player.

More often than not Tampa Bay came out on the plus side, or at least even, both in terms of possession and scoring. And that is very impressive for a player that just turned 21. It's also a nice look at not only how good he is already, but also the potential he has to be one a top-pairing defenseman in the NHL for years to come. 

(data via stats.hockeyanalysis.com)

The drawback to Hedman having to play all of these tough defensive minutes is that it held back his offensive game a little bit. And he certainly has a ton of offensive potential. It's not easy to score when you're going up against guys like Ovechkin or Weiss every night and are constantly playing in defensive situations.

Hedman's offensive numbers did improve (on a per-game basis) as he recorded five goals and 18 assists in 63 games, but there's still room for him to get even better, especially if the Lightning's newfound depth on the blue line allows him to get some more favorable matchups. And sometimes it's not just about the total point numbers, it's also about getting the puck out of danger and starting the play up the ice (which Tampa Bay did really well when Hedman was on the ice) while you also have to take into account not only who the player is going up against, but also who is on the ice with them.

"Last year was a good step in the right direction defensively for him to play all those minutes," said Lacroix. "While he's playing against the best lines he's also paired with our third line, which is our defensive line, and it takes away from developing offensive opportunities.

"I think moving forward he's going to have more latitude that way. He has great instincts, he can skate, he can move the puck, and for us having the proper the balance with our D it's going to help him offensively. He should see more minutes with our top line and therefore get a little more offensive chances out of it."

The additions of free agents Matt Carle and Sami Salo in free agency this summer should not only give the Lightning a better and more balanced defense, it should also help to ease up the workload that guys like Hedman have to face defensively. 

Not all of the heavy minutes will have to fall on his shoulders as Carle and Salo should be able to handle some of those situations. They should also be able to handle a little better than Tampa Bay's secondary pairings were able to last year. 

"You have guys that can play in all situations," said Lacroix when talking about the new additions. "Guys that can make good first passes and add a big shot on the power play. Anytime you bring in players that can play that many minutes on good teams, those are two players that came from good organizations that played a lot of playoff hockey over the years, I think that's going to help our young guys come along. Not only Victor, but also guys like Keith Aulie and Brian Lee. It's going to help everybody. What it gives us a little bit more latitude to not expose guys in situations they might not be ready for."

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