There was some good news for Syracuse Crunch fans on Tuesday, as their team added a former first-round pick that put up prodigious scoring numbers in junior hockey. A few months later than originally expected, Conor Geekie will be putting on the blue and white (and other colors depending on theme nights) of the Crunch as he was assigned to the Lightning’s AHL affiliate.
What’s good news for Crunch fans, might be, well, just news for Lightning fans. Geekie earned his spot on the opening night roster with a really strong training camp, but of late, his impact on the team has waned. Granted, that could be said for more than one player of late, but the 20-year-old forward is waivers-exempt and has a bright future with the Lightning.
With a long break at the NHL-level upcoming, it was likely that Geekie was going to get assigned to the AHL at some point, and making the move now will give him a couple of extra games with the Crunch. With Syracuse needing consistent offense as much as the Bolts do right now, he should get prime minutes in Syracuse while he’s down there.
It is kind of interesting that he was loaned to Syracuse prior to the Lightning’s game against Ottawa with the team struggling to find consistent offense. They’ll already looking for scoring outside of the usual suspects, and now, without Geekie, they’ll be relying on players who are already on the roster and haven’t been exactly filling the net. There were no corresponding recalls made with the move, which leaves the Lightning with just 12 healthy forwards on the roster right now.
Based on the lines at the morning skate, it looks like Mikey Eyssimont will join Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli on the second line with Nick Paul staying as the third line center with Gage Goncalves and Zemgus Girgensons.
Geekie has had a decent stretch of games of late. Over the last three games he’s generated five individual scoring chances with four shots on goal. Like his teammates not named Nikita Kucherov or Brayden Point, he has struggled to convert those chances into actual points as he has one goal and one assist in his last 19 games. Perhaps the Lightning could have him play out his struggles if half of the offense wasn’t going through a slump as well, but some time spent in Syracuse could get him back in the type of scoring groove he enjoyed in the Western Hockey League.
Getting more offense from the front of the net would be a huge asset to his play, as he has the size to play the power forward style of game.
In his press conference following practice, Coach Jon Cooper referred to the assignment as “part of the process, part of the plan”. This is about Geekie being part of the future of the Lightning, not just the present. He should come back as a better player after spending time in Syracuse.
