Through several transactions this summer, the fabric of the Tampa Bay Lightning defense has been remolded ahead of the 2024-25 season. Tampa Bay brought back veteran blueliner Ryan McDonagh in a trade with the Nashville Predators. Furthermore, they sent offensive-minded defender Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club as their top option on the blue line. In part of the return package, general manager Julien BriseBois got a 24-year-old shutdown option in J.J. Moser. The Swiss defender was awarded a two-year bridge deal with an average annual value of $3.75 million.
With these transactions, one may argue that the Lightning have a log jam in their defense core, especially with Emil Lilleberg and Max Crozier showing flashes of promise towards the end of last season. The Tampa Bay defense is filled with solid depth heading into next season with eight NHL-caliber blueliners in the organization. Many have teased the idea of trading a defenseman away to recoup youth and draft capital, with Nick Perbix as the odd man out. This transaction would free space for one of Lilleberg or Crozier to earn full-time NHL minutes. However, BriseBois and the Lightning may make a mistake by moving on from the Elk River, Minnesota native.
Lightning Must Hold on to Nick Perbix
The 26-year-old defenseman has been an underdog throughout his journey to the NHL (From ‘Nick Perbix’s rise from 6th round to Lightning’s top pair: ‘He’s proven a lot of people wrong’ – The Athletic, 12/22/2022). The Lightning drafted Perbix in the sixth round, 169th overall at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Since his draft day, the St. Cloud State Huskies product played four seasons at the NCAA Division 1 level. He spent 12 games with the American Hockey League affiliate Syracuse Crunch before earning a roster spot with the Lightning. While Perbix has only two seasons under his belt, he’s been effective in his short tenure with Tampa Bay. In 69 games as a rookie, he notched five goals and 15 assists for 20 points. Perbix followed those numbers up with two goals and 22 assists for 24 points in 77 games last season. Moreover, he has three assists in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.
On the surface, Perbix is a solid NHL defenseman with a favorable path to the league. However, what if he has another level to his game? After all, he hasn’t even reached 150 games in the NHL yet. In addition, he is on a team-friendly deal with just $1.125 million against the salary cap for the upcoming season. With that, what hidden tools does he have in his game that shouldn’t make him the odd man out?
Perbix Is the Ideal Modern Defenseman
While not expected to fill the scoresheet, Perbix has exceeded all expectations associated with a sixth-round pick in the NHL. He will never be on the league leaderboard for scoring amongst defenders, but does play a steady game with attributes that make him an ideal secondary option on the back end. My microstats database for the Lightning I tracked last season shows Perbix is a solid puck-moving defenseman who can defend the rush. The database consists of eight games of shots and passes data throughout the season and 12 games of transition data (zone entries, zone exits, rush defense). Perbix can effectively transition up the ice from the back end while being responsible defensively. Plus, he helps create quality shot attempts with his intelligent passes in the offensive zone.
Perbix was active in the offensive zone last season, leading all Lightning defensemen in the shots and passes in the eight-game dataset with two passes to the slot and 12 primary shot assists. Furthermore, he defended the rush excellently in the 12-game transition dataset. Perbix defended 50 zone entries in roughly 178 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5. The next closest to that total in the dataset defended 35 rushes successfully. Additionally, he forced the most dump-ins amongst Lightning defensemen. On top of this, he posted the highest entry defended percentage based on all the zone entries he faced (29.07% – highest on the team.) When the puck was dumped against him, he efficiently retrieved pucks to start the breakout, which helped the Lightning’s transition game. His retrieval success of 83.33% ranked second on the Lightning back end last season. Ultimately, he is a microstats gem and remains under-appreciated for his skill set.
What to Expect From Perbix Next Season
Despite the log jam on the Lightning back end, Perbix is a valuable piece to the defense core for the upcoming season. While the Lightning can afford to move on from a player of his caliber, he provides undervalued work defensively and in transition. With him in the lineup, the Lightning have six reliable, steady defensemen. Despite all the injuries last season, there is no question the Lightning upgraded their blue line for the 2024-25 season, and Perbix deserves to be a part of it. He is projected to play third-pairing minutes alongside the newly-acquired Moser. Meanwhile, the pair can play second-line minutes, which displays the improvements Tampa Bay made defensively. Following a solid start to his NHL career, the only path is up for the defenseman from Minnesota.
