Raw Charge

On Friday, Team Canada announced their roster for the upcoming 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase. Among the 32 names was Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Ethan Czata. For the 19-year-old forward, it’s the first step to making the cut for the World Junior Championship in late December. He’ll join Morgan Anderberg, who was named to the Swedish roster last month, in Windsor for the tournament. Neither the U.S. or Finland will have a representative from the Bolts this season.

<p>The international gathering gives the coaching staff a first look at players who may potentially end up on the final roster for the U20 championship, but it&#8217;s not a guarantee. Czata will be competing for a spot against other top draft picks (as well as a few yet-to-be-drafted players for one of the spots in the line-up. There are also some players, like Gavin McKenna, who might be on the final roster who weren&#8217;t invited to the camp. After all, what does he have to show the top brass that they already don&#8217;t know? </p>

<p>Czata has worn the maple leaf on his jersey already as he put up 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 7 games at the U18 World Championship back in the 2024-25 season (a tournament in which Canada took home the gold). He also has a matching gold medal from the U17 World Hockey Challenge in 2023-24 where he had 4 assists in 8 games. </p>

<p>With his ability to play defense as well as score, the Brampton native could find a nice role in Canada&#8217;s bottom-six as they look to recapture gold at the biggest junior tournament in the hockey world. Last year, with the Niagra IceDogs, Czata had a career-high 25 goals in 63 games. The production led to him being traded this spring to Guelph, as the Storm stack their roster in preparation for hosting the Memorial Cup next spring. </p>

<p>Even if he doesn&#8217;t make the final roster, it will be a big season for the second-round pick. He&#8217;ll have a key role in Guelph, and should their Memorial Cup dreams be dashed early, he will likely join the Syracuse Crunch at the end of the season. He spent a few weeks with them down the stretch this past Spring, appearing in three games without recording a point. Already signed to his entry-level contract, it wouldn&#8217;t be surprising to see him officially turn pro in May, and burn the first year of the contract in a handful of games at the AHL level. </p>

<p>Much like Czata, Anderberg has plenty of international experience at the junior level having also played for in the U18 World Championship in 2024-25, where he picked up a silver medal after scoring one goal in seven games. The 18-year-old also played two games for the U20 team last year (not at the World Juniors, though), which is fairly impressive for a youngster. The quick-skating forward has an excellent chance of making Sweden&#8217;s final roster in December, but how large of a role he plays will be determined.</p>

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Raw Charge

Part of the fun of free agency is simply the fact that there are new players on the roster. Especially a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning, that has been together, for the most part, for quite a few seasons. Along with the new faces, there are new jersey numbers to learn and get used to on the ice. With the Bolts announcing, in their own creative way, which numbers the latest crop of free agents will be wearing, we also get a chance to remember some players from the past.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="embed-x"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New numbers in town 👀 <a href="https://t.co/Gmd2l6Fenm">pic.twitter.com/Gmd2l6Fenm</a></p>&mdash; Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) <a href="https://x.com/TBLightning/status/2078209981736702438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> </div></figure>

<p><strong>John Carlson &#8211; Number 74</strong></p>

<p>The big right-shot defensemen is going with the number he&#8217;s worn his entire NHL career. Throughout Lightning franchise history, four players have worn it with the most recent being defenseman Sean Day, who sported it for two games in the 2021-22 season. Brantt Myhers was the first to wear it in the 1996-1997 season (after he had sported 27 and 33 in his rookie season) while Nick Tarnasky is the all-time Lightning points leader with that number (11 goals, 9 assists in 169 games).</p>

<p>The most famous Lightning player to wear it was Ondrej Palat, who rocked it in his rookie season of 2012-13 before switching over the more familiar 18 (check out Tyler Johnson&#8217;s number as well).</p>

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Ondrej Palat&#039;s First NHL Goal - March 16th 2013" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HJrLepbsb0U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> </div></figure>

<p><strong>Ilya Mikheyev &#8211; 95</strong></p>

<p>The big, fast winger switched to 95 in Chicago after wearing 65 in Toronto and Vancouver. Why the switch? There is a chance that 65 is one of the unofficially &#8220;retired&#8221; numbers in Chicago as it hasn&#8217;t been worn since fan favorite Andrew Shaw sported it from 2012-21. Mikheyev could have switched back to 65 in Tampa as Max Crozier was the last to wear it before changing to 24 last year, but it looks like the Russian is opting to stick with the 95. </p>

<p>It&#8217;s been a month of Leap Year Days since a member of the Lightning took to the ice wearing number 95. One has to go all the way back to the 1995-96 season to find clips of a Bolt skating around with that number. Michel Petit, who wore six different numbers during his 827-game career in the NHL, was the only Tampa Bay to wear 95 in franchise history. </p>

<p>Acquired from the Kings in November of 1995, Petit wore it for 45 games, recording 4 goals and 7 assists during that span. By default, he&#8217;s the only player to wear it in the playoffs, where he had zero points (but 20 penalty minutes) in 6 games against the Flyers. </p>

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<p><strong>Dennis Hildeby &#8211; 35</strong></p>

<p>The towering Swedish netminder (whose name comes up on the latest <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GDzZNAsSBc">Backchecking the Bolts</a> podcast) is keeping the number he wore during his 26-game career in Toronto, 35. Honestly, we&#8217;re a bit surprised that this number, which has been worn by nine players in Lightning franchise history, hasn&#8217;t been unofficially retired by the Bolts. After all, it was most famously worn by <s>Dieter Kochan</s> Nikolai Khabibuilin when the Lightning raised their first Stanley Cup. </p>

<p>While there was a five-year break after that, it has been worn by four players since, including the Lightning&#8217;s back-up for their most recent Stanley Cup, Curtis McElhinney. Come to think of it, the Lightning have never won a Stanley Cup without a goaltender wearing the number 35. So, great choice, Dennis Hildeby!</p>

<p><strong>Jeffrey Viel &#8211; 25</strong></p>

<p>Despite only appearing in 99 career NHL games, Viel has racked up a few different sweater numbers. He wore 63 in San Jose, 28 in Winnipeg, 28 and 48 in Boston, before returning to 28 for his brief, but productive, Anaheim career. With Zemgus Girgensons firmly ensconced in that number with the Lightning, Viel is trying out the number 25 for his first season with the Bolts.</p>

<p>Much like Hildeby&#8217;s choice, this number has some significant history in the organization as Dave Andreychuck most famously wore it during his tenure with the Bolts from 2002-2006. It was the number on his back when he skated to center ice in 2004 to lift Lord Stanley&#8217;s trophy over his head, completing the Lightning&#8217;s rise from laughing stocks of the league to champions. </p>

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="2003-04 Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 - Cup Presentation" width="640" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V1Lsc-NFOPc?start=128&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> </div></figure>

<p>Since then, it has been handed out once, to Matt Carle. The beleaguered defenseman wore it from 2012 to 2016 during his second stint with the Lightning. Other notable players to sport the number 25 were Marc Bergevin and Michael Nylander. </p></p>

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