18 Pounds Lighter and Back on the Blue Line: Victor Hedman Returns for Tampa Bay

The score in New York didn't go Tampa Bay's way on Thursday. The Lightning lost 5-1 to the Rangers. But the most important number for them might have been the one next to Victor Hedman's name: just under 18 minutes of ice time.

It was the captain's first regular-season game since March, when he stepped away from the team to address his mental health. Last season he also missed time after elbow surgery, and he played only 33 games in all.

Last year was hopefully a blip on the radar. When you play 33 games, it was a tough year in that regard. At the same time, maybe a blessing, too. Feeling excited and energized.

Lighter on purpose

Hedman is less than three months from turning 36 and starting his 18th NHL season. He arrived at camp at 228 pounds, down from the 244 he played at last year, and said the weight loss was a deliberate choice as he gets older. Less mass to move means quicker feet, in his view, and he doesn't think he gave up anything in board battles.

Coach Jon Cooper, the longest-tenured coach in the league, described his captain as "ripped." Hedman, drafted second overall in 2009, is the only Lightning player who was there before Cooper arrived.

Tampa Bay knows what it looks like without him. After he left, the Lightning went 8-6-2 down the stretch and then lost a seven-game first-round series to Montreal, even though they outshot the Canadiens 196-156. That came in a season when Cooper won the Jack Adams, Nikita Kucherov won the Hart and Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina.

Teammate Ryan McDonagh said the effect goes beyond the defensive pairings. "Just to see him being himself, his outgoing self, his energetic self, it means a lot to this group," he said.

The Lightning play their home opener Saturday night against Washington.