3 Lightning Defensemen Who Need to Step Up in 2022-23

The Tampa Bay Lightning will look a little different in the 2022-23 season. The salary cap has forced general manager Julien BriseBois to change the roster to stay under $82.5 million for next season. Gone are a handful of players who have been key in the team’s ability to play in three straight Stanley Cup Finals. Some of these key members have come on the defensive side of the ice.

The Lightning traded away veteran Ryan McDonagh, let Jan Rutta sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and will lose Zach Bogosian for a significant part of the season after the veteran recently had shoulder surgery. This will give the opportunity for three defensemen to step up and play a bigger role next season as the team seeks a fourth straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

The departures and injuries open an opportunity for the former first-round pick to emerge as an everyday player. During the past two seasons, Foote had been in and out of the lineup but now needs to produce at least close to what is usually expected from an early-round pick. The Lightning signed Foote to a two-year contract extension worth $850,000 per year, marking an important investment that the team made in Foote after selecting him 14th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. He missed the Lightning’s first four games of the 2021-22 regular season after having finger surgery to repair a tendon during the offseason. He appeared in 56 games last season, tallying nine points on two goals and seven assists.

Foote appeared in 13 playoff games last season but did not see the ice after the second game of the Eastern Conference Final. His biggest accomplishment of the playoffs may have come in the critical Game 6 of the opening series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the third period of that game, he took and “sold” a high sticking penalty, the first of two penalties that led to the Lightning’s game-tying power-play goal. During the season and into the playoffs, Foote has demonstrated some solid hockey instincts, as well as showing the confidence to take the puck into the offensive zone and make difficult plays in deep. He should get the opportunity to continue this growth during the 2022-23 season and play some significant minutes for the team.

Philippe Myers

The 25-year-old was acquired from Nashville in the McDonagh trade and is under control for one season. He played in 27 games for Nashville during the 2021-22 regular season, notching a…