NHL EDGE stats leaders for Tampa Bay Lightning

As part of NHL.com's 32 in 32 series, we will identify key EDGE stats for each team to preview the 2025-26 season. Today, we look at the impact of three advanced metrics for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

1. High-danger prowess

The Lightning led the NHL last season in both high-danger shots on goal by forwards (660) and high-danger goals (144) by forwards. Brayden Point (28) and Jake Guentzel (26) ranked first and second, respectively, in high-danger goals in the League, while Brandon Hagel (18; 94th percentile), Nikita Kucherov (17; 93rd percentile) and Anthony Cirelli (16; 91st percentile) were also standouts in the category. In terms of high-danger shots on goal, Guentzel ranked third in the NHL (111), while Point (90; 98th percentile), Hagel (81; 96th percentile) and Cirelli (74; 94th percentile) all ranked highly at their positions.

Tampa Bay led the NHL in goals per game (3.56) last season, and its 23 games with five-plus goals were tied for second behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (24). Kucherov won his third (and second straight) Art Ross Trophy as the League’s leading scorer (37 goals, 84 assists, 121 points) and was one of four Lightning skaters with at least 35 goals, joined by Point (42; sixth in NHL), Guentzel (41; tied for seventh) and Hagel (35; tied for 18th). The Lightning were the only NHL team with more than two 35-goal scorers last season.

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy ranked second in the NHL in high-danger save percentage (.853; trailing Los Angeles Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper’s .863) and fifth in high-danger saves (349) last season. Vasilevskiy also ranked second behind Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets in both goal differential (plus-77; trailed Hellebuyck’s plus-86) and games with greater than a .900 save percentage (39; trailed Hellebuyck’s 44).

2. Skating speed

The Lightning ranked fourth in the NHL in 22-plus mile per hour speed bursts (109) and fifth in 20-plus mph bursts (1,939) last season. Point ranked third in the League in 20-plus mph speed bursts (422), behind Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche (547) and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (442), and was seventh in 22-plus mph bursts (31).

Point, who is one of four NHL players with 40 goals in each of the past three seasons (Leon Draisaitl, William Nylander and David Pastrnak), also ranked among the forward leaders in top skating speed (23.76 mph; 97th percentile) and power-play skating distance (36.66 miles; 96th percentile).

Another speedy forward standout was Hagel, who was among the leaders at his position in 22-plus mph speed bursts (18; 96th percentile), 20-plus mph bursts (191; 94th percentile) and top skating speed (23.20 mph; 92nd percentile). Hagel, who ranked fifth in the NHL in both even-strength goals (32) and even-strength points (72), was also among the forward leaders in total skating distance (248.82 miles; 94th percentile).

3. Shot speed

The Lightning ranked second in the NHL in 90-plus mph shot attempts (115) last season, trailing the Oilers (136). Of the six players who had at least 40 such shots, two were Lightning defensemen: Victor Hedman (61; second in NHL) and Darren Raddysh (40; tied for fifth). Hedman, a six-time finalist and 2018 winner of the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman, remains among the advanced stats leaders in many shooting categories (with percentile rank among defensemen listed below):

• Top shot speed: 98.97 (94th percentile)
• Average shot speed: 74.12 (91st percentile)
• Midrange shots on goal: 48 (98th percentile; sixth among defensemen)
• Midrange goals: 5 (94th percentile)
• Long-range shots on goal: 93 (96th percentile)
• Long-range goals: 6 (98th percentile; tied for fourth among defensemen)

Kucherov, who could become the seventh player in League history and second among active players (McDavid) to win the Art Ross Trophy three consecutive seasons, was also a standout among forwards in terms of top shot speed (96.28 mph; 97th percentile), long-range shots on goal (30; 96th percentile) and midrange shots on goal (82; 94th percentile).

Kucherov was held to four points (all assists) in five games last season when the Lightning were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first round by the eventual-champion Florida Panthers for a second straight year. However, Tampa Bay continues to have one of the NHL’s best forward-defenseman-goalie trios in Kucherov, Hedman and Vasilevskiy, which will keep its Stanley Cup window wide open.

More EDGE stats insights for Lightning