The Lightning were busy on the roster move front as they get set to take on Seattle today. The team announced that defenseman Declan Carlile has been recalled from AHL Syracuse. He takes the place of J.J. Moser who has landed on injured reserve. Meanwhile, forward Jack Finley has been activated from season-opening injured reserve and was assigned to the Crunch, per the AHL’s transactions log.
It’s Carlile’s first recall of the season. The 24-year-old made his NHL debut last year, getting into one game with Tampa Bay and with a strong season in the minors, he received a two-year, two-way deal back in June. In 2024-25, Carlile has played in 21 games with the Crunch and has been a bit quieter than normal offensively, recording just one goal and two assists. By comparison, he had 27 points in 61 games with Syracuse last season and 24 points in 69 outings in 2022-23.
As for Moser, he was injured on Thursday against Calgary. The 24-year-old is in his first season with Tampa Bay after being acquired from Utah at the draft as part of the Mikhail Sergachev deal. Moser has fit in relatively well with his new team thus far, recording 10 points in 27 games along with 39 blocked shots in just under 20 minutes a night of playing time, ranking him third among Lightning blueliners. As a result of the placement, he will miss at least the next three games and is eligible to return on December 22nd against Florida.
Finley, meanwhile, did not take part in training camp with the Lightning due to an undisclosed injury that has kept him out until now. The 22-year-old was a second-round pick back in 2020, going 57th overall. Finley had a solid sophomore professional season in 2023-24 with the Crunch, notching 13 goals and 19 assists in 52 games. He’s in the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent this summer. Since Finley wasn’t on the NHL roster at all last season, there was no cap hit while he was on SOIR.
Sucks about J.J. Moser but hopefully he can get back for the matches against Florida. He’s been a solid addition to Tampa’s blue line.
As for Declan Carlile, he has shown much promise & played well when he got called up last year. I look forward to seeing how he progresses now that he’s getting a bit of an opportunity on the main roster.
Good to see Jack Finley back for the Crunch. As he’s been developing well over the past few years & will add some depth which is lacking a bit this year for the Crunch.
Well according to reports both Hedman & Cernak could be returning for the Seattle game which would be great news.