Lightning Announces 2026-27 Opening Roster
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced the club’s season-opening roster for the 2026-27 NHL season today. Tampa Bay’s roster includes 15 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders. Bolts Vice President and General Manager Julien BriseBois also announced that forward Benjamin Rautiainen has been loaned to Tappara of the Finnish Liiga.
Yanni Gourde and Dominic James will be unavailable on Opening Night due to injury.
After two weeks of an intense training camp, the Lightning chose experience over youth to open the season Thursday night against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Seven-year veteran Jansen Harkins joined the roster, along with new additions John Carlson, Iilya Mikheyev, and Jeffery Viel. Goalie Dennis Hildeby will back up Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Conor Geekie, who played sparingly for the Lightning in 2024-25 and 2025-26, earned a roster spot after an exceptional camp and preseason.
Adjustments can be made ahead of Thursday's opener in New York, and changes will follow once Gourde and James are ready to return to the lineup later in the season.
Several outstanding prospects, including Rautiainen, Maxim Groshev, and Sam O'Reilly, received strong consideration before returning to their respective teams.
Jakob Pelletier, who has been in and out of the league with Tampa Bay, Calgary, and Philadelphia, was assigned to Syracuse to start the season.
"It’s, like I said, a competitive camp and just great human beings, and it was a pleasure to be with these kids," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said following Tampa Bay's preseason win Saturday over rival Florida. "That's why it's always tough, understanding that not everybody's going to be here. As I told them, they may not be a Bolt today, but they might be a Bolt tomorrow and keep plugging.”
Adjustments can be made ahead of Thursday's opener in New York, and there will be changes once Gourse and Jame are ready to return to the lineup.
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