Free agency always brings a little number-chasing with it, and for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the latest wave of arrivals comes with a fresh batch of jersey assignments to memorize.
John Carlson is taking 74, the same number he has worn throughout his NHL career. It’s a number with a short but notable Lightning history.
Sean Day was the most recent Bolt to wear it, doing so for two games in the 2021-22 season. Before that, Brantt Myhers had it in the 1996-1997 season after opening his rookie year in 27 and 33.
Nick Tarnasky is the franchise’s points leader in 74, finishing with 11 goals and 9 assists in 169 games. The most recognizable Lightning player to wear it was Ondrej Palat, who used it in his rookie season of 2012-13 before moving to the more familiar 18.
Ilya Mikheyev is sticking with 95, the number he switched to in Chicago after previously wearing 65 in Toronto and Vancouver. The move makes sense in light of the fact that 65 hasn’t been worn in Chicago since Andrew Shaw had it from 2012-21.
Mikheyev could have gone back to 65 in Tampa, since Max Crozier was the last Bolt to wear it before changing to 24 last year, but he’s choosing 95 instead. That number has barely surfaced in Lightning history.
You have to go back to the 1995-96 season to find a Bolt wearing it, when Michel Petit used 95 for 45 games after being acquired from the Kings in November of 1995. Petit finished with 4 goals and 7 assists, and he was also the only Lightning player to wear it in the playoffs, where he had no points and 20 penalty minutes in 6 games against the Flyers.
Dennis Hildeby is keeping 35, the number he wore during his 26-game run in Toronto. That one carries real weight in Tampa Bay history.
It has been worn by nine players in franchise history, and it was most famously on the back of Dieter Kochan Nikolai Khabibuilin when the Lightning won their first Stanley Cup. After a five-year gap, four more players have worn it, including Curtis McElhinney, the backup goalie for the Lightning’s most recent Stanley Cup team.
In fact, the Lightning have never won a Stanley Cup without a goaltender wearing 35.
Jeffrey Viel will wear 25, a number with plenty of significance in the organization. Viel has already bounced around a bit in his NHL career, wearing 63 in San Jose, 28 in Winnipeg, 28 and 48 in Boston, and then 28 again in Anaheim.
With Zemgus Girgensons holding down 28 in Tampa Bay, Viel is settling on 25 for his first season with the Bolts. That number is best remembered for Dave Andreychuck, who wore it from 2002-2006 and had it on his back when he lifted the Stanley Cup in 2004.
Since then, Matt Carle is the only other Bolt to wear it, using it from 2012 to 2016 in his second stint with the team. Marc Bergevin and Michael Nylander also wore 25 for Tampa Bay.