Brandon Hagel Day-To-Day
- Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel is day-to-day and it’s unlikely he’ll appear tomorrow against Pittsburgh, per Diandra Loux of The Hockey News. The 27-year-old former sixth round selection continues to flourish with the Lightning, putting up 73 points in 69 games this season as the Bolts’ third leading scorer. It’ll be beneficial for the Penguins who are more in need of points than their opponents. Hagel should return far in time for the playoffs, as soon as Saturday against Boston. His club is currently fifth in the league, looking to end their three year first round exit streak.
Lightning Sign Noah Steen To Entry-Level Deal
The Lightning signed winger prospect Noah Steen to a two-year, entry-level contract on Monday that begins next season, PuckPedia reports. The deal has a total value of $1.95MM, with a cap hit of $972.5K. He will be owed a qualifying offer of $990K upon expiry as a restricted free agent in 2028.
Steen will earn a prorated base salary of $850K in 2026-27 and $900K in 2027-28, based on how much of the schedule, if any, he’s in the NHL. That’s accompanied by a yearly signing bonus of $97.5K and up to $27.5K in performance bonuses next season. His minor-league salary in both years of the contract will be $85K.
Tampa Bay had just over two months left to sign the 21-year-old before they risked losing his exclusive signing rights on June 1. The 6’1″ Norwegian was a seventh-round pick in 2024, two years after he was initially eligible for selection. After spending his earlier development climbing through Sweden’s junior ranks and then making the jump to the pro level in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, Steen has been playing top-flight European pro hockey since the puck dropped on the 2024-25 campaign.
Viewed as a potential penalty kill specialist near the bottom of the lineup, Steen showed this season he may be more than that. After only scoring five goals and one assist in 51 games in his first season with Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League last year, he broke out for a 12-10–22 scoring line in 52 games here in 2025-26. That’s the same points per game rate he posted in his only full season of second-division play with Mora IK two years ago.
Steen’s existing contract with Örebro runs through 2026-27. That makes him subject to the NHL’s transfer agreement with the SHL, which stipulates that, as a non-first-round pick under the age of 24, he must be offered back to Örebro first if he doesn’t make the Lightning’s roster out of training camp in the fall before they can assign him to AHL Syracuse. With that in mind, there’s no guarantee he’ll play in North America next season, but he could do so in the back half of his entry-level deal if Örebro doesn’t retain his rights for 2027-28.
Steen wasn’t included as a top-10 prospect in Tampa’s system by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff last offseason, but he did jump into 10th place in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s rankings earlier this month. He “can play with jump and has good goal-scoring instincts around the offensive zone,” Wheeler wrote, but his ceiling “might top out as a second-line SHLer/AHLer.”
Kucherov And Paul Out Due To Illness
The Lightning found themselves down a pair of important contributors up front today against Ottawa. Prior to the contest, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Nikita Kucherov and center Nick Paul were both scratched due to illness. Kucherov entered play today in a share of the league lead in scoring with 121 points, tied with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. This is now the fifth game this season that he has missed. As for Paul, he has been fairly quiet since returning from the injury midway through the month, recording just one assist in seven games since then, bringing him to 13 points in 41 games on the campaign. Without enough cap space to recall a replacement forward, the team went with just 11 forwards and seven defensemen versus the Sens.
Victor Hedman Taking Leave Of Absence
The Lightning announced Wednesday that captain Victor Hedman will be out for at least one additional game as he takes a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons.
Hedman has already missed Tampa Bay’s last three contests. He left their game against the Canucks last Thursday after less than five minutes of ice time and didn’t return due to what the team labeled an illness.
That, plus a whole host of other injuries, has limited the usually durable Hedman to under half of the Bolts’ games this season. He has only managed 33 appearances, currently tracking for a career low, including lockout and COVID-shortened seasons.
Hedman, who finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting just last year, hasn’t had nearly the same effect when dressed, either. At 18:52 of ice time per game, he’s averaging under 20 minutes for the first time in his 17-year career, and his 0.52 points per game is his worst output since his early 20s.
The Bolts have maintained a 27-7-3 record without Hedman dressed this season, including a 2-0-1 stretch in their last three without him. They certainly miss his presence, even lower in the lineup, with depth options Declan Carlile and Maxwell Crozier sidelined, but they’ve been able to keep their system rolling and intact this season amid a bevy of other injuries on defense.
At this point in the season, the Lightning have essentially locked up home ice in the first round with a 89.5% chance of finishing in the top two in the Atlantic Division, per MoneyPuck. A playoff spot is all but clinched, but the race with the Sabres for the division title is still wide open.
Jake Guentzel Is One Of The Best UFA Signings Of This Era
Building a team through free agency is rarely a recipe for success in the NHL. Just ask the Predators, who are only two years removed from “winning” the 2024 UFA sweepstakes but have yet to see any on-ice success from their spending spree (Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei, and Jonathan Marchessault).
However, some teams do find success in the free agent market by acquiring players on the fringes. Last summer is a good example, as the Penguins struck gold by signing Justin Brazeau and Parker Wotherspoon to two-year contracts that have given them some of the best value in the NHL.
All of that being said, it’s rare to see a high-end UFA sign for big money and provide substantial extra value on their long-term deal, which is why the Lightning’s Jake Guentzel stands out as one of the best free agent signings of the last 10-15 years.
When Guentzel signed his seven-year, $63MM contract, he was brought to Tampa Bay to step into the lineup for former captain and long-time star Stamkos. Those were big shoes to fill, as Stamkos was a first-overall pick who had captained Tampa Bay to multiple Cups and was beloved by the city and the organization.
But the Lightning saw an opportunity to get younger and refresh the top of their lineup. It’s paid off in spades. However, it didn’t come without significant risk.
No one knew whether Guentzel would thrive outside of Pittsburgh after spending the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the Penguins, skating alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line. Many believed that Guentzel might have been a product of playing with Crosby and not a player who could excel elsewhere.
Since being traded by Pittsburgh in March 2024, all Guentzel has done is improve his impressive offensive numbers. In 503 games with the Penguins, Guentzel scored 219 goals and 247 assists, averaging 0.93 points per game. However, since the trade, Guentzel has tallied 78 goals and 97 assists in 163 games, averaging 1.07 points per game. While the increase is slight, it is still surprising — and quite welcome for the Lightning.
This season, the 31-year-old has 29 goals and 41 assists in 66 games and is on track for his third 80-point season. If he achieves that, it will mark the seventh time in eight seasons that he has surpassed a point-per-game, a remarkable streak of consistency for a player whose on-ice ability is often questioned.
Guentzel isn’t the flashiest player, nor is he the biggest or fastest. But he has a high hockey IQ and a rare ability to anticipate plays. That’s what made him the best player Crosby has ever played with long-term (an argument can be made that Marián Hossa was the best winger Crosby ever had), and it’s why he’s fit in with Tampa Bay so seamlessly.
There have been other UFA success stories over the past twenty years. Artemi Panarin had an outstanding run with the New York Rangers; the previously mentioned Hossa in Chicago won three Stanley Cups and played a key role in all of them, while Joe Pavelski left San Jose for the Dallas Stars and was a major contributor to their success from 2019 to 2024.
An argument could be made that John Tavares‘ signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018 was also a success, and in a vacuum, that is probably true. Tavares signed a seven-year, $77MM contract on the first day of free agency in 2018, and the deal itself worked out well for both Tavares and the Maple Leafs, as he remained an important contributor throughout the term and is currently playing on a bargain extension he signed last year. While Matthews was the captain of Toronto and a key piece of one of their better eras of regular-season success, the Maple Leafs had almost no playoff success, and the acquisition of Tavares led to one of the worst trades in recent memory.
Without Tavares signing, the Maple Leafs likely wouldn’t have traded Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche, a move that eventually helped Colorado win a Stanley Cup and left the Maple Leafs with a significant gap down the middle of the ice. In theory, the trade made sense; Kadri was destined to be a third-line center, and Toronto believed it was best to swap him for defensive help in Tyson Barrie and another center in Alexander Kerfoot. The move didn’t work out and ultimately contributed to Toronto’s decline.
And that parallel from Toronto highlights how impressive Guentzel’s run in Tampa Bay really is. He was brought in to replace arguably the best player in franchise history, and all Guentzel has done is put up better numbers than ever before in his career. There are still five years remaining on his contract, so it’s not guaranteed that Guentzel’s deal won’t become a problem later on, but for now, it’s one of the best UFA signings in recent memory.
Victor Hedman Leaves Game Due To Illness
- Lightning captain Victor Hedman didn’t play the last two periods of the Bolts’ 6-2 drubbing of the Canucks last night, but there isn’t a huge cause for concern. Head coach Jon Cooper told reporters postgame that while he is a bit banged up, the decision to pull him was illness-related, per Benjamin Pierce of NHL.com. It’s long been known that the 35-year-old isn’t at 100% this season – he’s missed over 30 games due to elbow surgery and an undisclosed lower-body issue. It shows in his performance, averaging a career-low 18:52 per game while limited to a 1-16–17 scoring line and a -1 rating in 33 outings.
Latest On Zemgus Girgensons
Just before the puck dropped on tonight’s game between the Kings and Rangers, Los Angeles shared that Adrian Kempe would be out due to a lower-body injury. Tonight marks the first time the forward has missed a contest all year.
In 66 games so far, the 29-year-old has put up 58 points. It’s performance right on track with his past few seasons after breaking out as a star. Kempe is averaging the highest ice time of his career, 19:16, and making the most of his first line role alongside center Anže Kopitar in the future Hall of Famer’s final season.
Sadly in the final chapter with Kopitar, the Kings will hope Kempe maintains his production for many more years afterward, as the Swede earned an eight-year extension back in November. Unless you count the recently acquired Artemi Panarin, Kempe leads Los Angeles in points; the duo will need to do some heavy lifting if they can manage to sneak into the playoffs. Kempe could return as soon as Thursday against the Flyers, but he’s had to miss a big one tonight in Panarin’s return to Madison Square Garden.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Ahead of their game tonight in Dallas, the Utah Mammoth announced that Kevin Stenlund won’t play, as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body ailment. The fourth line center has missed just his second game of 2025-26, otherwise posting 15 points in 66 games. It’s a step back from the 29-year-old’s strong first season in Utah where he set a career high with 28 points, but he’s a typical shutdown presence hardly counted on in that aspect. Stenlund has started just shy of 65% of his shifts in the defensive zone, and he brings value in face-off wins. The former Columbus second round pick could come back as soon as Thursday in Vegas.
- Tampa Bay forward Zemgus Girgensons returned to practice today, as noted by Benjamin Pierce, Beat Writer for the team. The veteran skated on Yanni Gourde‘s wing. Girgensons departed Saturday’s game against Carolina early with an apparent injury. The Latvia native plays a bottom six shutdown role, starting 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone yet still managing 15 points in 58 games. In today’s speed oriented game, it’s not always so kind for the 32-year-old 6’3″ lefty, but he still offers a solid 50.7% corsi for at five-on-five, bringing value to the team at a cap hit of just $850k.
Lightning’s Declan Carlile Out Four To Five Weeks With Injury
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that defenseman Declan Carlile will be sidelined for a four- to-five-week period as the result of a lower-body injury. Carlile was placed on injured reserve earlier today.
Today’s news is an unfortunate development for an ascending player who is in the midst of the best season of his professional career. The 6’3″ defenseman was signed by the Lightning as an undrafted college free agent out of Merrimack close to the end of the 2021-22 season. He developed with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, for the next three full seasons, playing only a small handful of games at the NHL level.
Entering this season, Carlile had just four career games played at the NHL level, but had become a dependable all-around defenseman at the AHL level. This year represents the most significant step forward in Carlile’s pro career, as he has set a career-high with 38 games played at the NHL level, compared to just 16 in the AHL.
His role in the NHL isn’t what it is in the AHL, as he’s largely a reserve player for the Lightning, averaging under 15 minutes of ice time per game. But he has gotten some time on the penalty kill (1:09 per game) and is slowly but surely carving out a place in the NHL.
This injury costs Carlile the chance to skate in what are likely to be high-stakes games for the Lightning as they chase an Atlantic Division title. It also has some financial ramifications for both Carlile and the Lightning. While this injury doesn’t affect what kind of free agent Carlile will be in the summer (there are not enough NHL games left in the season for Carlile to avoid Group-VI UFA status, even if he was healthy), it does cost him the chance to showcase his talents in what are likely to be some of the most important games of the Lightning’s season.
While he still has enough runway to return in time for the playoffs, Carlile would surely be better-positioned to enter the open market were he at full health. In Carlile’s absence, the Lightning are likely to rely more heavily on their existing core of veteran defensemen, an area that is already an area of strength for the team.
Lightning Recall Steven Santini
Saturday: Santini’s stint in the minors was short-lived as the team announced that he has been brought back up from the Crunch. He suited up in their loss to Lehigh Valley yesterday, paving the way for him to be brought back up so quickly.
Friday: The Lightning announced today that defender Steven Santini has been reassigned to AHL Syracuse. He is right at the 10-game cutoff for losing his temporary waiver exemption, but has spent less than 30 days on the active roster since last clearing them during preseason, so he doesn’t need them to head back to the minors today. Any subsequent recall and game played will require him to go on waivers at the end of it, though.
Santini, 31, was recalled Tuesday in the wake of Erik Černák sustaining an apparent leg injury. He was scratched for last night’s win over the Red Wings as Darren Raddysh returned to the team from his bereavement leave, but did log 9:21 of ice time against the Blue Jackets earlier this week. The 6’3″ righty managed two shot attempts and one hit but was otherwise held off the scoresheet. His demotion today indicates Černák should be ready to go tomorrow against the Hurricanes after a two-game absence.
He’s now eight years removed from his days as a legitimate depth/bottom-pairing option with the Devils. More of an AHL journeyman now, his 134 games of NHL experience are still attractive to teams like the Lightning if they need him as an injury stopgap, as they’ve done several times this season. This was Santini’s fifth recall of the campaign, resulting in his most NHL appearances in a season since 2018-19.
Once named the Hockey East conference’s best defensive defenseman during his NCAA days with Boston College, he’s still an important stay-at-home conscience for Syracuse, where he has a +10 rating and six assists and 32 games this year while serving as the club’s captain. Signed through next season on a two-way deal, he’ll remain a recall option through then unless he’s claimed off waivers.
Lightning To Activate Nick Paul, Assign Conor Geekie To AHL
The Lightning made a roster move early this morning, announcing that they’ve assigned center Conor Geekie back to AHL Syracuse. With the cap savings from that assignment, they now have enough money to activate forward Nick Paul off LTIR; head coach Jon Cooper confirmed to reporters, including team reporter Benjamin Pierce (Twitter link), that Paul will be activated before tonight’s game against Carolina.
Paul has missed the last 11 games with a lower-body injury sustained at the beginning of February against Boston. The 30-year-old has been a strong secondary scorer since joining Tampa Bay back in 22 but his playing time and numbers have taken a dip this season. Limited to just 34 games due to multiple injuries, Paul has notched just six goals and six assists so far in 2025-26 although he’s winning a career-high 54.4% of his faceoffs. He’ll likely slot in on either the third or fourth line; the latter if he simply slides into Geekie’s spot in the lineup.
As for Geekie, this stint with the big club ends at five games, bringing his season total to 11 after he broke camp with the Lightning back in the fall. He’s still looking for his first NHL goal of the campaign and has been limited to just two assists so far after notching 14 points in 52 games in Tampa Bay last season. The team has prioritized giving the 21-year-old big minutes in the minors with the Crunch over playing in a depth role which certainly makes sense from a development standpoint. Geekie has fared quite well in that situation, tallying 51 points in 47 games with Syracuse. He’ll return there and help the Crunch as they continue to battle for the top spot in the AHL’s North Division.
With Paul’s pending activation, Tampa Bay is down to two players on LTIR, rookie center Dominic James and freshman defenseman Maxwell Crozier.