The Tampa Bay Lightning (6-4-2) are back in the top three spots in the Atlantic. They’ve been on a five-game winning streak after suffering a four-game losing streak in the middle of October. With impressive overtime wins against the Vegas Golden Knights (6-2-3) and Dallas Stars (6-3-3), along with victories over the Utah Mammoth (8-4-0), Anaheim Ducks (7-3-1) and Nashville Predators (5-6-2), the Lightning appear to finally be living up to the lofty expectations many had on them in the preseason.
One of the biggest reasons for the turnaround has been Brandon Hagel finally producing. Usually, the Lightning can always rely on Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Jake Guentzel to produce offensively, but if the bottom-nine can’t pot goals in, the Lightning become top-heavy and one-dimensional.
Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)
That has been Hagel’s role over the past couple of seasons. Since the Lightning acquired him at the 2022 Trade Deadline, he’s notched 85 goals, 141 assists, and 226 points through 267 games. He also racked up 203 hits and 170 blocks in that time span. He’s always provided a scoring touch on the second line while also adding much-needed grit.
Brandon Hagel’s Rollercoaster Season
This season started off rocky for Hagel. Through the first seven games of the season, he had just one point: an assist against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 11. He was also a minus-5 plus/minus during that span. He wasn’t shooting less than usual; he just wasn’t finding the net.
Ever since Oct. 25, Hagel has turned things around. In the past five games, he has four goals, four assists, and eight points, notching a plus-7 plus/minus too. Against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 25, he had two helpers. Playing against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 26, he scored his first goal and assisted Nikita Kucherov for the overtime winning goal. On the road versus the Nashville Predators on Oct. 28, he had a goal and a helper. Against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 30, he scored a goal on the power play. At Utah on Nov. 2, he potted an empty net goal to ice the win for Tampa Bay.
Can confirm this was in ☑️ pic.twitter.com/e5a23fvzTT
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 31, 2025
The goal against Dallas was his first power-play goal in 118 games. TNT’s Paul Bissonette made fun of Hagel for it afterwards, but it goes to show how well he has been playing that he broke a streak that long.
Brandon Hagel has his first power play goal in 118 games so Biz wants to know…
Why was he even on the PP to begin with 🤣 pic.twitter.com/mApkaiiLYY
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) October 31, 2025
Brandon Hagel’s Role Evolution
Hagel’s offense wasn’t always as prevalent. With the Chicago Blackhawks, he was solid, but not as spectacular as he is now with the Lightning.
In 2020-21, his first full season with the Blackhawks, Hagel tallied just nine goals, 15 assists, and 24 points in 52 games. He earned some votes for the Calder Trophy as well, and it earned him a three-year, $4.5 million deal in the offseason to extinguish his restricted free agent (RFA) status.
The next season, Hagel took a major step forward. He had 21 goals, 16 assists, and 37 points through 55 games. He led all Blackhawks in shooting percentage (22.3%) before the trade deadline, and his average time on ice improved from 13:59 to 17:28.
Then, the Lightning paid a premium to trade for Hagel at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline, giving up Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, a 2023 and 2024 first-round pick for Hagel and two fourths. Tampa Bay was hoping he could grow as a scorer, since he was only 23 at the time.
Hagel exceeded everyone’s expectations. Through the past three seasons, he went from recording 64 points in 2022-23 to 75 points in 2023-24, then to 90 points last season. He led all forwards in total ice time last season (1700:57) and he earned major time on special teams, ranking second among all forwards in average time on ice shorthanded (1:52) and fourth among all forwards in average time on ice on the power play (2:40).
Related: Lightning Can Trust Brandon Hagel to Drive His Own Line This Season
It shows how much Hagel has developed as a player that he is now one of the top scoring options for the Lightning, and if he keeps this torrid pace up, everyone will forget about his slow start to the season.
