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Lightning Expected To Place Mikhail Sergachev On LTIR, Recall Sean Day, Declan Carlile

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3:00 PM: The Tampa Bay Lightning are expected to move Mikhail Sergachev to long-term injured reserve.

8:30 AM: The Lightning recalled defensemen Sean Day and Declan Carlile from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Thursday, a team release states. Today’s transaction comes after the Lightning were forced to play their last game, a 4-2 loss to the Jets on Tuesday, with 13 forwards and five defensemen due to an injury to Erik Černák and no salary cap space available for a corresponding recall.

Thus, the Lightning must have made a corresponding transaction to fit Day and Carlile on the active roster. It’s possible the team has transferred defenseman Mikhail Sergachev from standard injured reserve to long-term injured reserve, which would rule him out of the team’s next five games with a lower-body injury. He’s already missed six games and 15 days with the injury, which he sustained in the first period of a December 19 game against the Blues.

Day and Carlile now come up to the Lightning roster to provide reinforcements to a badly bruised blue line without two of its three best players in Černák and Sergachev. This isn’t new territory for Day, 25, who was recalled three times last month to serve as injury insurance but did not appear in a game. The one-time OHL exceptional status nod is in his fourth season with the Lightning organization and has made 17 appearances with Syracuse this year, recording eight assists and a +8 rating. He has not made an NHL appearance since logging a pair of games with the Lightning in the 2021-22 season.

For the 23-year-old Carlile, though, this is a career-first. Signed by the Lightning as an undrafted free agent after completing his junior season at Merrimack College in 2022, the Michigan-born defender earns his first in-season recall in the final year of his two-year, entry-level deal. It’s an important step en route to him potentially earning a qualifying offer at the end of this season and remaining in the Lightning organization.

The 2020 Hockey East All-Rookie Team nominee does his best work in transition, posting solid zone entry denial metrics at the collegiate and AHL levels. He was a monster two-way minutes-muncher for Syracuse last season, recording 24 points in 69 games throughout his first full pro season while posting a team-high +28 rating. His numbers this season (three goals, six assists, nine points, +8 rating in 31 games) aren’t quite as strong, but there’s still reason to believe NHL upside exists in Carlile’s game.

One of Day or Carlile will likely draw into the lineup in a third-pairing role alongside recent call-up Philippe Myers tonight when the Lightning visit the Wild. Day and Carlile are both left-shot defensemen.

Mikhail Sergachev Placed On IR

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  • The Lightning have placed defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on IR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has missed the last two weeks with a lower-body injury so this move is purely procedural; if they back-dated it to the date of his injury, he can be activated at any time.  Sergachev has 19 points in 33 games so far this season.

Lightning Forced To Play With Five Defensemen

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The Fourth Period is reporting that the Calgary Flames picked up trade talks with several teams last week as they look to potentially move on from several pending unrestricted free agents. The Fourth Period cited sources saying that the New Jersey Devils were one of the teams they talked to and even linked the Devils to both Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.

The Flames currently have a record of 15-16-5 through their first 36 games which puts them five points out of a playoff spot as they near the halfway point of the regular season. The team will have a big decision to make in the coming weeks as they also have center Elias Lindholm on an expiring contract, and he is reportedly looking for a deal in the range of $9MM annually.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta also believes that teams have expressed interest in Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, but it’s hard to believe Calgary would deal him given that he is in the first year of an eight-year contract and has a full no-trade clause.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The NHL has announced its Three Stars of the Month, with Nathan MacKinnon taking First Star, Auston Matthews winning Second Star, and Connor Hellebuyck being named Third Star. MacKinnon won on the heels of an 11-goal, 29-point performance in 15 games in December, while Matthew’s put up 15 goals and six assists in just 12 games. Hellebuyck’s December performance saw him post an impressive 7-0-2 record, which was good enough for a Third Star.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning writer Chris Krenn is reporting that the Lightning were forced to dress just five defensemen tonight due to injuries and salary cap constraints. The Lightning lost Erik Cernak and Haydn Fleury recently to injury and with no cap space to make a recall, the Lightning were forced to play the Winnipeg Jets one defender short of a full six. The Lightning will be eligible to make an emergency recall after tonight, but due to the language in the Roster Emergency Exception rule, they must wait until the second game to be eligible to recall a player under emergency conditions.

Cernak Considered Day-To-Day, Fleury Considered Week-To-Week

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  • Taking a hit to their defensive core, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be without Erik Cernak on a day-to-day basis, while Haydn Fleury will be on more of a week-to-week timeline (X Link). In all fairness to Fleury, Cernak is the more significant defenseman to miss time, as he has blossomed into one of the better shutdown defensemen in the NHL with Tampa Bay. Averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game, Cernak holds a 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength this season.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Haydn Fleury Placed On LTIR

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  • As part of today’s roster shuffle that brought up defenseman Philippe Myers to Tampa Bay, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that blueliner Haydn Fleury has been placed on LTIR. He exited yesterday’s victory over Montreal early and it appears the injury is significant enough for him to miss at least the next 10 games and 24 days.  Fleury has had a limited role so far this season but does have four points in 12 contests with the Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Philippe Myers, Reassign Sean Day

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have swapped seventh defensemen. They’ve reassigned Sean Day back to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, and recalled Philippe Myers to fill his spot on their roster.

Day has been on the NHL roster for the Lightning a few times this season, but he has not yet skated in an NHL game. He’s been the team’s seventh defenseman on a few occasions but hasn’t dressed for a game in the NHL since 2021-22.

Myers, on the other hand, has played in one game for the Lightning this season. Tampa Bay originally acquired the 26-year-old with the hope that he could carve out a consistent NHL role, but he didn’t do so and ultimately played in just 11 games at the NHL level.

He’s been in Syracuse for most of this season and has played a big role, combining both size and mobility for the Crunch. Standing six-foot-six, Myers gives the Lightning some more size and physicality at the seventh defenseman role compared to Day.

Sergachev Out Tonight Versus Rangers

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  • Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev took part in practice on Friday but was only able to make it through about half the session, relays Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times. As a result, the 25-year-old won’t make his return to the lineup tonight against the Rangers.  Sergachev has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and has 19 points in 33 games so far this season while playing nearly 23 minutes a night.

Lightning Recall Sean Day

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  • The Lightning recalled defenseman Sean Day from AHL Syracuse, marking the veteran pro’s third recall in the last week-and-a-half. Day, 25, has eight assists in 17 games with Syracuse this season, his fourth in the Lightning organization. The former OHL exceptional status grantee has gone 87 straight games without a goal in the minors, last lighting the lamp on April 8, 2022. He’s been rostered for four NHL games this month but has been a healthy scratch each time. Even with Mikhail Sergachev expected to remain out of the lineup tonight with a lower-body injury, Day will likely watch from the box as the Lightning take on the cross-state rival Panthers.

Tampa Bay Lightning Send Sean Day To AHL

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  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Sean Day to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Day was recalled to the NHL lineup on December 21st and failed to appear in any games with the Lightning. Day has only managed two NHL appearances in his career, both coming in the 2021-22 season. He failed to score in the pair of outings, recording a -2. Day has appeared in 17 AHL games this season, recording eight assists but still searching for his first goal of the year.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Lightning Reportedly Place Mikhail Sergachev On Injured Reserve

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The Lightning moved defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to injured reserve on Saturday, veteran Lightning writer Erik Erlendsson reports.

The move is purely for roster management purposes and does not impact Sergachev’s projected return timeline. As head coach Jon Cooper noted today, the team did not plan on Sergachev being available to return from his lower-body injury until December 27 against the Panthers (via Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times). That is the first game the 25-year-old will be eligible to play after missing the seven days required for IR designation. Sergachev last played on December 19 against the Blues.

Sergachev remains listed as day-to-day, and it was noted earlier Saturday that he would not suit up in tonight’s contest against the Capitals. Given the timing of his injury and the league’s holiday break, he will only miss two games after sitting out Thursday’s 5-4 win over the Golden Knights.

With Sergachev sidelined, depth defenseman Haydn Fleury will play just his ninth game of the season tonight in Washington. The 2014 seventh-overall pick made the team out of camp but was sent to the AHL on a conditioning loan last month, his first minor-league action since 2018-19 with the Hurricanes organization. After a brutal campaign last year, Fleury has played well in minimal action, recording four points and a +5 rating while averaging 14:34 per game. However, the 27-year-old’s possession numbers have been worse than average compared to his teammates for the third straight season.

Sergachev hasn’t played quite at last season’s level. In 2022-23, his positive possession impacts and career-high 0.81 points per game earned him a couple of Norris Trophy votes for the first time. Still, with two goals and 19 points in 33 games this year, his 0.58 point-per-game pace is the second-best of his career. While his -15 rating may sound some alarm bells, his possession numbers have remained above water. Considering Lightning netminders have a .874 SV% with Sergachev on the ice at even strength, play in the crease is likely artificially deflating his rating.

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