Lightning add Holmberg, Katchouk for forward depth

After the NHL Draft, free agency and other offseason moves, NHL.com is examining where each team stands in preparation for the 2025-26 regular season, which starts Oct. 7. Today, the Tampa Bay Lightning:

2024-25 season: 47-27-8, second in Atlantic Division; lost in Eastern Conference First Round

Key arrivals

Pontus Holmberg, F: The 26-year-old signed a two-year contract on July 1 and will have a bottom-six role, likely on the fourth line. He had 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 68 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season and one assist in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. ...Jakob Pelletier, F: The 24-year-old signed a three-year contract that is a two-way deal this season and turns into a one-way deal in 2026-27. He had 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 49 games with the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers last season and will compete for a roster spot on the fourth line or as a reserve forward. ...Boris Katchouk, F: The 27-year-old signed a one-year, two-way contract on July 1 and will compete to make the roster as a reserve forward. Katchouk had 49 points (21 goals, 28 assists) in 67 games for Wilkes Barre/Scranton in the American Hockey League last season. He has 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 176 NHL games with the Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators in three NHL seasons.

Key departures

Nick Perbix, D: Signed a two-year contract with the Nashville Predators on July 1. Perbix scored a career-high six goals and had 19 points in 74 games last season. He had one assist in five playoff games. ...Luke Glendening, F: The unrestricted free agent had seven points (four goals, three assists) in 77 games as the primary fourth-line center and was a key presence on the penalty kill and face-offs. He had a goal and an assist in five playoff games. ...Cam Atkinson, F: The unrestricted free agent had nine points (four goals, five assists) in 39 games last season. Atkinson battled injuries last season and was limited to two games after the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.

On the cusp

Max Crozier, D: The 25-year-old is likely to be elevated to the NHL roster and has a good chance of becoming a regular. He played in five games with the Lightning last season and had 34 points (nine goals, 25 assists) in 52 games with Syracuse of the AHL. ... Jack Finley, F: The 22-year-old signed a three-year contract on July 8. He will be on a two-way contract this season before the deal converts to a one-way contract for the remaining two years. Finley, who made his NHL debut on January 14 against the Boston Bruins, had 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 40 games with Syracuse, where he is likely to begin the season. ... Sam O'Reilly, F: The 19-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers for forward Isaac Howard. He had 71 points (28 goals, 43 assists) in 62 games with London of the Ontario Hockey League last season and 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 17 OHL playoff games, helping London repeat as league champions and win the Memorial Cup.

What they still need

Depth on defense and bottom-six scoring. With Crozier likely moving up to the NHL, there are not a lot of experienced options in Syracuse if the defense has a run of injuries. The Lightning hope building a fourth line around Yanni Gourde (seven goals, 24 assists in 57 games with the Seattle Kraken and Lightning last season) and Mitchell Chaffee (12 goals, six assists in 66 games) will provide more of a scoring threat. Forward Conor Geekie, 21, is also expected to take a step up offensively after he had 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 52 games as a rookie last season.

They said it

"We're always looking for ways to improve our team, but I look at the roster we have right now...The NHL announced the year-end All-Star (teams), 12 players across the NHL. Well, we had four of them. Thirty-three percent of the year-end All-Stars are on our roster. [Nikita] Kucherov was on the first-team, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman and Brandon Hagel were on the second team. That doesn't include Brayden Point, who was already named as one of the six initial players for Team Canada's Olympic team. Jake Guentzel was one of the best players for Team USA [in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament]. We have a really good roster, a really strong roster." -- general manager Julien BriseBois

EDGE stat to watch

The Lightning ranked among the NHL leaders in high-danger goals (147; second) and high-danger shots on goal (680; tied for second) last season. Point (28) and Guentzel (26) ranked first and second, respectively, in high-danger goals in the League. Guentzel, who scored a career-high 41 goals, had the second most goals by a Lightning skater in his first season with the team behind only Brian Bradley (42 in 1992-93). His 111 high-danger shots on goal ranked third in the NHL behind Anders Lee of the New York Islanders (131) and Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers (125). -- Troy Perlowitz

Fantasy spin

The Lightning are the only team to have at least five players in the top 50 of NHL.com's fantasy rankings. (Standard fantasy categories include goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, hits and blocked shots for skaters, and wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts for goalies.) They have six, with Kucherov (fourth), Vasilevskiy (14th), Point (26th), Guentzel (34th), Hedman (40th) and Brandon Hagel (44th) all top options at their respective positions. Kucherov leads the NHL in points (265), assists (184), power-play points (99) and three-point games (40) since the start of the 2023-24 season. A three-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the League's scoring champion, Kucherov is the fourth player in NHL history with three straight 80-assist seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (13 straight), Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey (three straight each). His line with Point at center and Guentzel on left wing should continue to be one of the best combinations in the NHL this season. -- Chris Meaney

Projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Gage Goncalves

Conor Geekie -- Nick Paul -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Pontus Holmberg -- Yanni Gourde -- Mitchell Chaffee

Victor Hedman -- J.J. Moser

Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak

Emil Lilleberg -- Darren Raddysh

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson