The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing player storylines from around the NHL. On deck this week:

· Lightning overcoming loss of Victor Hedman and other key defenders · Carter Verhaeghe on fire since becoming a dad · Andre Burakovsky paying dividends for Connor Bedard · Sophomore slump hitting Marco Kasper hard

Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning

If you were walking down the street and bumped into the current Tampa Bay Lightning defense corps, you probably wouldn’t recognize two-thirds of them. That’s because mainstays Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Eric Cernak have all missed significant time with injuries this season, forcing head coach Jon Cooper to put together a makeshift group until reinforcements arrive.

During Thursday’s thrashing of the

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