- A pair of key Lightning players are questionable to suit up tonight as team reporter Chris Krenn relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Victor Hedman and center Nick Paul are both listed as game-time decisions. Hedman has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury while Paul played in Thursday’s loss to Carolina.
Lightning Rumors
Evening Notes: Hedman, Letang, Formenton
The Tampa Bay Lightning are down a big man – literally and figuratively – as they take on Ottawa tonight. Defenseman Victor Hedman has an upper-body injury and is day-to-day, according to Lightning play-by-play commentator Dave Randorf. Hedman sustained the injury in a win Saturday against San Jose, leaving in the third period.
Hedman is vying for a seventh straight Norris Trophy nomination this season, and one of the best defensemen of his generation is off to a strong start again. His eight points in nine games are tied for third on the team with Brayden Point, and his 24:48 ice time average per game clears second place (Mikhail Sergachev) by an even two minutes. The Lightning have a tough schedule over the next few games, including games against Carolina and Edmonton, so a quick return from Hedman would be highly desirable.
- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is out for tonight’s game against Boston with an illness, as he didn’t skate in warmups. Chad Ruhwedel will draw in on the bottom pairing, while Jeff Petry will slide up alongside Brian Dumoulin in Letang’s absence. The 35-year-old, who signed a six-year extension with the team last offseason, is off to a slow start with four points in nine games and a -5 rating.
- TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on today’s edition of Insider Trading that there are no real updates between the Ottawa Senators and forward Alex Formenton, who remains the only unsigned RFA in the league. The two parties now have just one month before the December 1 signing deadline, where Formenton cannot play in the NHL season if he doesn’t have a contract. Dreger notes a potential trade as an option for Formenton, and also floats the option of playing in Europe if a deal can’t be reached.
Erik Cernak Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury; Won't Play Saturday Against Islanders
- Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will not play tonight when the Lightning take on the New York Islanders at home, the team says. Cernak has played in all five of Tampa’s games thus far.
Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Gabriel Fortier To AHL
No matter how many times the Tampa Bay Lightning trade away young depth players at the deadline to bring in talent for their Stanley Cup push, they always seem to have another prospect ready for the NHL. Recently it was Gabriel Fortier, a second-round pick who played ten games for the team last season and cracked the roster out of camp this time around.
Fortier, 22, played just one game out of the first few, however, and has now been assigned to the minor leagues as the Lightning arrive back in Florida for the next couple of games. Tonight’s match is actually a road game as they take on their cross-state rivals but they’ll then host the New York Islanders tomorrow night before going on a west coast trip.
At that point, Fortier or someone else could be recalled as an extra forward, however, there is also another possibility. Anthony Cirelli and Zach Bogosian have both been skating in non-contact sweaters with the team, meaning one or both could be back at some point soon. The Lightning had been carrying a maximum of 23 players, meaning someone would need to go down to make room.
If that’s Fortier, the young forward shouldn’t be too disappointed. He isn’t even two full seasons into his professional career, and will get his chance at some point in the future.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Nick Perbix
After signing him to an entry-level contract just a few months ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning are now giving Nick Perbix his first chance in the NHL. The sixth-round pick has been recalled today after the Lightning sent Trevor Carrick back to the minor leagues yesterday.
Perbix, 24, was drafted way back in 2017 but played a year in the USHL and then four seasons at St. Cloud State following his selection. Last year he joined the Syracuse Crunch down the stretch and played well, racking up eight points in 12 regular season games. The 6’2″ right-handed defenseman is a nice all-around depth piece for the team to be able to call on, and gives them four right-handed defensemen on the roster.
With Hayden Fleury and Philippe Myers both playing fewer than 13 minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend, there could be a couple of changes for the Lightning this week. Ian Cole has been reinstated following the league investigation into sexual assault allegations found no evidence, and now Perbix has been recalled after two games in the minor leagues.
Tampa Bay is 1-2 on the year and has given up 11 goals in those three games, including six against the Penguins.
Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Trevor Carrick To AHL
10/16/22: The Lightning today have announced that they have sent Carrick back to AHL Syracuse. Carrick didn’t suit up in any games for the Lightning in this stint on their roster, so he’ll head back to the AHL and likely be an important contributor for the Crunch.
10/14/22: The Tampa Bay Lightning lost their first game of the season to the New York Rangers and won’t return for their home opener until Tuesday. In the meantime, they’ve made an addition to the roster, recalling Trevor Carrick from the Syracuse Crunch to join them on the road.
With Ian Cole currently suspended, the team had been carrying just six defenders through the first few days of the season, risking playing down if anyone suffered an injury. Carrick’s addition will give them some depth at the position, though it is unclear if he’s actually needed to play. All six seemed healthy as they took part in practice yesterday, even as the forward group was jumbled up with Brandon Hagel moving to the top line.
Carrick, 28, is the kind of minor league veteran that is perfect to recall in these situations given how much experience he has in pro hockey. Originally a fourth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012, he’s spent eight seasons in the minor leagues, playing just seven games in the NHL over that span. Last year, with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, Carrick had 10 goals and 30 points in 61 games.
The Lightning will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening.
Lightning Reinstate Ian Cole
October 15: The NHL has completed their investigation into the matter less than a week after allegations were raised. The league released a statement saying they found no evidence to substantiate the allegations made against Cole, and that the league considers the matter closed.
The investigation included two separate interviews with Mr. Cole as well as interviews with NHL club personnel and other individuals with potentially relevant information. Futher, the investigation included a detailed review of online and social media, public data, and court records and law enforcement checks. In addition, despite attempts by the League to make contact with the anonymous source of the social media post, those efforts were unsuccessful.
October 9: Earlier this week, allegations of sexual assault were made against Lightning defenseman Ian Cole. Tonight, the team announced that they’ve suspended the blueliner and issued the following statement:
The Tampa Bay Lightning is aware of the allegations against player Ian Cole and are cooperating fully with the NHL on an investigation. Our organization takes these allegations very seriously. While we continue to gather more details, we have decided to suspend Ian Cole pending the results of an investigation. No members of the organization, including players, will comment further at this time.
The 33-year-old signed a one-year, $3MM deal with Tampa Bay on the opening day of free agency using some of the cap room they freed up when they traded Ryan McDonagh to Nashville. The suspension is with pay so there is no effect on the salary cap. Cole spent last season with Carolina, collecting 19 points in 75 games while averaging just over 17 minutes per game.
Meanwhile, Cole’s agent Kevin Magnuson released the following statement on behalf of his client to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman:
I take the allegations made against me today in an anonymous tweet very seriously. I completely deny these allegations and will fully cooperate with the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning, their officials and legal departments in the forthcoming investigation. I look forward to clearing my name and demonstrating to the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning that these allegations are unfounded. I will have no further comment until the NHL’s investigation concludes.
Three Players Clear Waivers
Oct 13: All three have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.
Oct 12: The season is just getting started and waivers won’t stop. Three more players have been placed on the wire today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, including Martin Pospisil of the Calgary Flames, Scott Harrington of the San Jose Sharks, and Pierre-Cedric Labrie of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In Pospisil’s case, he had been on season-opening injured reserve but must have recovered enough to now be sent to the minor leagues. There is little risk of claiming the 22-year-old forward, even if he did have a nice season for the Stockton Heat last year.
Selected 105th overall in 2018, Pospisil had seven goals and 25 points in 47 games for the team, while also racking up 95 penalty minutes. His size and physicality have always been his calling card, going back to his junior days with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL where he had a whopping 253 penalty minutes in 49 games as a rookie.
Harrington, meanwhile, played in one of the two games for the Sharks overseas but now with the team needing to reduce their roster for the return to North America, there isn’t room. The 29-year-old played almost all of last season in the minors with the Cleveland Monsters and appears likely to do it again, this time with the Barracuda.
It was interesting to see Labrie even get an NHL contract, let alone stick around this long on the roster. The veteran forward is an AHL staple with 685 games played at that level, and hasn’t appeared in an NHL game since 2013. He will almost certainly spend the entire year in the minor leagues, though perhaps the team just wanted him signed in case they needed a physical presence for a handful of games this year.
Tampa Bay Extends AHL Affiliation
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Syracuse Crunch have been one of hockey’s most successful partnerships, and it isn’t going to end anytime soon. The two organizations have announced a new five-year affiliation extension, keeping them linked through the 2026-27 season.
General manager Julien BriseBois released a statement:
The Lightning are thrilled to extend our affiliation agreement with the Crunch today. Howard Dolgon and his group in Syracuse create an ideal environment for our prospects to develop in, as evidenced by the number of players that have eventually made it to Tampa to play for the Lightning. We’d like to thank Howard and the entire Crunch staff for their continued commitment to the success of both our franchises. We would also like to thank the Crunch fans for their passion and support of the team.
The number of players to come through the Crunch-Lightning pipeline and make an impact at the NHL is almost unparalleled in the AHL. Carter Verhaeghe, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Mitchell Stephens, Jan Rutta, Taylor Raddysh, Matthew Peca, Cedric Paquette, Richard Panik, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Nesterov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jonathan Marchessault, Nikita Kucherov, Slater Koekkoek, Alex Killorn, Mathieu Joseph, Tyler Johnson, Connor Ingram, Libor Hajek, Radko Gudas, Yanni Gourde, Cal Foote, Adam Erne, Brett Connolly, Ross Colton, and on, and on.
There’s also head coach Jon Cooper, who was plucked from the Crunch to lead the lightning in 2013 when Guy Boucher was fired.
There’s absolutely no reason for either team to break a partnership that works this well. The minor league squad hasn’t had a losing record since 2013-14, and even then it was 31-32-13. While most affiliation agreements are just for a few seasons, a five-year deal between these two makes perfect sense.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Pierre-Cedric Labrie
6:00 PM: PuckPedia reports that Labrie’s AAV will be $770,800 and that the deal contains $500K in games played bonuses. That oddly-specific cap number will be for LTIR optimization purposes while the presence of the performance bonuses will stay in Tampa Bay’s pool when Labrie is inevitably sent to the minors. That will give them some extra flexibility when calling up players on entry-level deals with performance bonuses during the season.
12:50 PM: No, it’s not 2013. The Tampa Bay Lightning are bringing back veteran forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie on a one-year, two-way contract, according to a team release. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Labrie last played in the NHL in the 2013-14 season, a 13-game stint with the Lightning. Undrafted, the 35-year-old forward has five points in 46 career NHL games, all of which came in a Lightning uniform between 2011 and 2014.
A power forward, Labrie stands at an imposing 6′ 3″ and 227 pounds. He split the 2021-22 season on an AHL contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack and Syracuse Crunch, the latter of which is the AHL compatriot of the Lightning. Labrie tallied six goals, 10 assists, 16 points, and 54 penalty minutes in 56 games after spending the previous two campaigns with Eisbären Berlin in the DEL.
Labrie’s last NHL contract was in 2017-18, signed with the Nashville Predators. He spent the entirety of the season in the AHL and was dealt in a minor-league swap to the Arizona Coyotes in February 2018.
It would be rather shocking to see Labrie get NHL ice this season, but with the organization’s depth continually stripped away as a result of salary cap casualties, it’s not impossible. More than likely, though, he’ll be tasked again with playing a supporting AHL role to the next generation of Lightning players.