Victor Hedman

Swedish ice hockey defenseman, widely regarded as one of the NHL's elite defensemen and captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning with multiple major honors.

Victor Hedman was born in Örnskoldsvik, Sweden in 1990. Tampa Bay Lightning selected him second overall in the 2009 NHL Draft. His career has produced 165 goals and 626 assists for 791 career points — all franchise records for a defenceman. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman in 2018. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2020. He won two Stanley Cup championships with Tampa Bay (2020, 2021). He was selected to five All-Star games. At 6ft 6in with exceptional skating ability and defensive positioning, he is the most complete defenceman in the contemporary game — his combination of size, mobility, offensive production and defensive reliability has produced the highest individual rating in the analytics community of any defenceman of his era. He and Nikita Kucherov form the core of the Tampa Bay Lightning dynasty. He represented Sweden at multiple World Championships and Olympics.

Hedman is known for his exceptional combination of size, skating ability, and offensive instincts from the blue line. His 6'6" frame allows him to dominate physically while his smooth skating makes him incredibly mobile for his size. He excels at joining the rush, quarterbacking the power play, and making crisp outlet passes to transition from defense to offense.

Hedman revolutionized the modern defenseman position by proving that elite size and mobility could be perfectly combined at the highest level. His success paved the way for other tall, skilled defensemen and helped redefine what teams look for in a franchise defenseman.

• Stanley Cup 2x (2020,2021)
• Norris Trophy (2018)
• Conn Smythe Trophy (2020)
• Olympic Gold Medal (Sweden 2006 via family)
• All-Star 5x

Team Career

Team	Period	GP	Goals
Tampa Bay Lightning	2009–2024	1037	152
Sweden	—	115	24