Bolts' Hedman: the total package

By now you've probably heard of Hedman.

But have you seen him?

Unless you were at the lone Lightning preseason home game against Atlanta on Sept. 18, odds are Victor Hedman might still be a bit of a mystery to most fans. The 6-foot-6 Swedish defenseman will make his home debut tonight as Tampa Bay hosts New Jersey, allowing fans the opportunity to witness first hand the player who will serve as the backbone to the blue line for years to come.

Hedman, 18, didn't enter the season with the promotional campaign of Steven Stamkos nor the hype of this year's No. 1 pick, John Tavares of the Islanders. But this year's second overall pick comes with all the tools to be a dominant player who could find his name on plenty of hardware throughout his career.

With the style of game he plays and fluid skating style, Hedman is Nicklas Lidstrom with size. With a big build, long reach and neutralizing ability on the rush, he is Chris Pronger without the mean streak.

"Victor Hedman brings to his game an unsurpassed combinations of size, explosiveness in his skating, quickness and offensive ability," NHL director of central scouting E.J. Maguire said prior to the draft. "He is indeed the whole package."

While defensemen often take a few seasons to figure the game out at the NHL level, Hedman has stepped right into a top-two role on the Lightning's defense in the first two games.

In his NHL debut, Hedman logged a game-high 26 minutes, 27 seconds, albeit with Tampa Bay playing with five defensemen throughout most of the game. Tuesday in Carolina, with six defensemen, Hedman was on the ice for 24 minutes, 16 seconds.

Those are not minutes reserved for just any first-year defenseman, let alone a teenager, particularly when you are facing the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk and Eric Staal on regular shifts.

"He just doesn't look like a rookie, and not just the way he looks because he is big, but the way he skates, the way he thinks, the way he does things out there, he's more like a 30-year-old than 18," Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier said.

"In my mind, he blew right by (any expectations)."

Hedman, who played two years in the Swedish Elite League, also seems to have that intangible that is difficult to teach, and something that normally comes with experience - poise with the puck. That ability to hold on to the puck for an extra split-second, to be able to read pressure coming at you and not panic.

Although it's only been two games, Hedman is not playing like an 18-year-old.

"Not yet. But again, you have to try to stay guarded with that because you know it's going to be bumpy," said associate coach Rick Wilson, who runs the defense from the bench. "But it's very encouraging and very exciting to see his start. He's a big, strong kid and he has played in a men's league for a couple of years and I think that is showing itself to be advantageous early. He's not nervous with the competition."

Hedman, however, is far from content. Don't expect him to be comfortable with his current position, even if he looks at ease when he's on the ice.

"I love to be out there and I want to make a difference, so I love to play a lot of minutes," Hedman said. "But I know that you have to earn it every night, and each game is a new game and I try to play better than I did the last game. Ice time is something that you earn and you have to do your best every night to show it."

Tonight, he gets to show it to the home fans for the first time.