With the first part of training camp over, and Syracuse’s training camp ready to open up next week, the Tampa Bay Lightning made their biggest cut of training camp, re-assigning 18 players. While some notable names are on their way up north, there really weren’t any surprising moves. Here are the moves per the Lightning:
Players assigned to Syracuse:
Dylan Duke
Jaydon Dureau
Lucas Edmonds
Dyllan Gill
Niko Huuhtanen
Milo Roelens
Roman Schmidt
Lukas Svejkovsky
Gabriel Szturc
Those nine players were waiver-exempt and expected to start the season in Syracuse. Dylan Duke was probably the player that had the best chance to stick with the Lightning, but with only a handful of games at the professional level, some more seasoning at the AHL level is the right call.
The next nine players were all on AHL contracts so they did not need to clear waivers:
Gabriel Dumont
Ryan Fanti
Tyson Feist
Brandon Halverson
Kale Kessy
Jujhar Khaira
Joel Teasdale
Daniel Walcott
Scott Walford.
Again, no surprises with this group. All of them will likely have a role with the Crunch or Orlando Solar Bears through the season. Dumont and Walcott are still recovering from injuries and won’t be in the line-up for a while. Teasdale is on a try-out contract, but there is a good chance he signs with Syracuse at some point in the next month.
In addition to these moves, two players were put on waivers – Derrick Pouliot and Tobie Paquette-Bisson. The two defensemen were slated for Syracuse when they signed their deals this summer and should clear waivers with no problem. Expect the Lightning to announce their assignment to Syracuse tomorrow after the waiver deadline.
Once they clear, there will be 33 players left in camp. There are a couple of easy moves to figure out. Matt Tomkins is likely headed to Syracuse as is defenseman Steve Santini. Jack Finley will probably be added to IR as he continues to rehab from his injury that will keep him on the sidelines until December.
That leaves seven players in camp fighting for spots. It is intriguing that Ethan Gauthier is still around since he is eligible to be sent to Juniors for one more season. Conor Geekie, who is waivers-exempt, is making it really hard for the Lightning to send him down to Syracuse. Other forwards that were penciled in for Syracuse that are still in camp are Gage Goncalves, Gabriel Fortier, Max Groshev, and Jesse Ylonen.
On the defensive side, with Paquette-Bisson and Pouliot on waivers, and Santini likely to join them, that leaves nine players competing for seven spots. Declan Carlile and Max Crozier are still in camp with a chance to make the team. Another player to keep an eye on is Emil Lilleberg. Depending on what the Lightning do with J.J. Moser, Lilleberg could be the odd man out on the left side of the defense. He doesn’t have to clear waivers to be assigned to Syracuse, and that could be a deciding factor if Moser stays on the left side.
If the Lightning put Moser on the right side (as we’ve seen in practice) things could get interesting for Nick Perbix. It’s doubtful he would clear waivers, so the Bolts might work a trade to move him if he’s not in their opening night plans.
So the roster is starting to take shape, slightly. This week, and the next two games, will go a long way to figuring out how things will shake out. For the first time in a long time, the salary cap isn’t really an issue as the Bolts should be able to fit whoever they want on the roster without any shenanigans. The only player not currently under contract in camp is Logan Brown. If he does make the roster, there is enough room in the cap to sign him to a minimum deal.
