The defensive pairing of Darren Raddysh and J.J. Moser has quietly turned heads over the past couple of months. With the Lightning battling through injuries for much of the season, the loss of key defensemen Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Erik Cernak created a need for other players to step into bigger roles.
For Moser, the push to take his game to the next level started last summer. After getting a taste of playoff hockey during the Lightning’s first-round series against the Florida Panthers, he came away knowing he needed to play with more physicality. Moser hired a new personal coach, and together they built a detailed plan for his workouts.
“Getting bigger and stronger is one part and then it’s the conditioning and the endurance, because it takes a lot more energy if you’re engaging more in that physical contact,” he said. “A big part is just the mindset. A big part is also just having that, I don’t know how to describe it … a little bit of a screw you mentality in some ways. It’s more mental where you just have to just make it a habit in whatever you do.”
Moser wanted to take more ownership over his game, training his body and mind to respond instinctively under pressure, something Nikita Kucherov spoke about at the end of last season.
“On the ice, your body has to react without having the time to think. When it becomes subconscious, it frees up more space for your brain to see the next play,” he said.
Moser is an open book, willing to break down his decision-making in nearly any situation. Since arriving in Tampa Bay as part of the Mikhail Sergachev trade with Utah in the summer of 2024, he admits his second season with the Lightning has felt much smoother.
“Coming into the league, everything’s new and you’re just trying to survive. Then once you’ve been in the league a couple years, you know what’s going on and you want to take that next step," he said. "In your second year with a new team, you have so many things off your plate when you come to training camp. I could focus more on the things I wanted to improve, rather than getting an apartment, getting used to the guys, and all of that.”
That comfort level has given him the space to grow, and it’s proven valuable as he steps into a larger role while the Lightning deal with injuries.
© Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images“You really don’t have another option, at least that’s how it’s been for me,” Moser said of the team’s injuries. “You’re kind of like, ‘All right, now we’re in this situation. We better find a way to make it work.’”
“The guys coming in from Syracuse have been doing an unreal job and they embrace it. I think we all took a little extra ownership and put a little bit more on our shoulders. Raddy has been playing unbelievable. He's been stepping up big time.”
On Saturday, Moser signed an extension with the Lightning worth an average annual value of $6.75 million, keeping him in Tampa Bay for eight more years. When Lightning GM Julien BriseBois originally traded for Moser, he saw a player who could be a cornerstone for their future. The 25-year old is coming off a two-year bridge deal worth $3.375 million AAV and was set to become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this offseason. The new deal came together quickly.
“First and foremost, it’s the people and how the organization is run, from top to bottom. Everyone here is just an awesome human being,” Moser said of the extension. “The guys in this room and the direction the organization is going in is most important.”
“It obviously helps when you know the core is going to be there,” he added. “I’m very excited about the core that we have and think we can be competitive for a very long time.”