tbl-Lightning Return Prospects To Their Junior Teams

Summary

The Tampa Bay Lightning made their first significant cuts of their shortened training camp as they returned seven players to their junior hockey club organizations. None of the players re-assigned were a surprise as they had minimal chances of making the team, even with the current injury situations. Three players will head back to the OHL (including two to the same team), two to the QMJHL, and one each to the WHL and USHL. The moves (and where they are heading): Ethan Czata – Guelph (OHL) Aiden Foster – Prince George (WHL) Oleg Kulebiakin – Halifax (QMJHL) Stephan Surygin – Saginaw (OHL) Cooper Soller – Sioux Falls (USHL) Grant Spada – Guelph (OHL) Max Vilen – Moncton (QMJHL) Of the players remaining in camp, there are 34 forwards, 18 defensemen, and six goaltenders. Both Luke Glendening and Kole Lind, the two players on try-out deals remain in camp. In a sense, the Lightning made the easy moves. Whittling down the final 23-player roster from the 58 players in camp will be the hard part. The players heading back to juniors take a little NHL experience back with them. Czata and Kulebiakin had a little game experience as they participated in the Lightning’s 2-1 win over Nashville on Monday. The others, like Vilen had a couple of weeks of hanging around coaches and NHL players, bending their ear for advice while also seeing first hand what it means to be a NHL player. Of the 58 players in camp 16 are waivers exempt and the majority of them will probably end up in Syracuse. Conor Geekie, Dylan Duke, and Sam O’Reilly are in that group of 16 and might get a little bit longer look than their compatriots. The rest of the cuts will require the waiver process, and you should start seeing players hit the waiver wire towards the end of the week. Once Syracuse’s training camp opens, expect to see the majority of the cuts to happen. Dominic James and Yanni Gourde will start the season on injured reserve, which will open up a couple of extra spots. Salary cap shouldn’t be an issue this year, so it’s unlikely that either will hit long-term injured reserve. Puckpedia has the Lightning with about $2.3 million in cap space, but that will increase by another $1.25 once they figure out what to do with Jonas Johansson.