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Lightning could suddenly use help on defense

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Timo Meier notches two goals and an assist as San Jose storms past Edmonton to secure a 6-3 win in an important Pacific Division matchup.

The Tampa Bay Lightning don’t have any obvious holes on their roster when everyone is healthy. The Bolts were likely just going to do some minor depth tweaking ahead of the Feb. 24 trade deadline, but that plan may have been thrown out the window this week.

In Tuesday’s win over the Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa lost defenseman Jan Rutta to a lower-body injury. Head coach Jon Cooper said the injury will keep him out for a few weeks. On Thursday night against Pittsburgh, they lost Ryan McDonagh to a lower-body injury, too. The veteran exited the game after taking a slap shot to the ankle. Cooper didn’t have provide much of an update after the game, but said it may not be as bad as it looked.

As of right now, the healthy bodies on the blue line are: Victor Hedman, Kevin Shattenkirk, Brayden Coburn, Mikhail Sergachev, Luke Schenn and Erik Cernak. They’ll likely call someone up from the minors in the next little while so that they have an extra body around on defense.

Hedman already plays nearly 24 minutes per game, so it’s tough to envision him eating up a lot more ice time, but a player like Sergachev could be in line for a lot more work (he averages 19:29 of ice time per game). The rest of the ice time will likely have to be eaten up by a committee of players.

Now, general manager Julien BriseBois needs to figure out whether or not he wants to add a defender and how much he’s willing to pay for a depth one.

If they want to add a depth player, who could they target? Let’s take a look at some options.

Zach Bogosian - RD - Buffalo Sabres: Bogosian has struggled badly while in Buffalo, but a chance of scenery and playing on a different (and much better) team could make him a solid depth defender again. He’s in the final year of his monstrous contract and the Sabres could retain some of his remaining salary to make a trade work with the contending Bolts.

Trevor Daley - LD/RD - Detroit Red Wings: Daley has missed a good chunk of the season due to various injuries, but he could be a nice veteran addition to a team that only needs a depth player. The 36-year-old is on an expiring contract and he’s picked up four assists in his last four games. Daley has two Stanley Cup rings in his jewelry box. He’s allowed to provide the Wings with a 15-team no trade list.

Dylan DeMelo - RD - Ottawa Senators: DeMelo’s been an important part of Ottawa’s defense since they acquired him in the Erik Karlsson trade. He plays almost 20 minutes per game with the Senators, but likely wouldn’t see as much ice time on a contender like Tampa. He’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The Sens may want to re-sign him though.

Brenden Dillon - LD - San Jose Sharks: The Sharks probably didn’t think that they’d be sellers at the trade deadline, but that’s where this aging group is right now. Dillon is going to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and paying him a big sum of money probably isn’t in San Jose’s best interest. The 29-year-old has one goal and 14 points in 55 games this season. He’s added 79 penalty minutes this season and he averages 19:15 of ice time. He’d make the Bolts blue line tougher. Whether or not San Jose wants to part ways with him is another story.

Ron Hainsey - LD/RD - Ottawa Senators: The veteran has spent most of the season as Thomas Chabot’s defense partner in Ottawa. He’s capable of playing both sides and he’s also scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Hainsey also has a Stanley Cup ring and plenty of experience, which could be huge for a Lightning team that’s looking to shake off the embarrassment of a first-round sweep last spring.

Marco Scandella - LD - Montreal Canadiens: Scandella was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in early January for a fourth-round draft pick. He’s from Montreal, so he may want to just re-sign there eventually, but the Lightning only need him from the trade deadline to the end of their playoff run anyway. The 29-year-old has three goals and 10 points in 46 games this season. He averages 17 minutes of ice time per game. He could likely be had for a third or fourth-rounder.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.