March 5: Atkinson and Brown cleared waivers, according to Friedman. Both will be reassigned to Syracuse as the Lightning look to close a trade with the Kraken for forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde.
March 4: The Lightning have placed forwards Cam Atkinson and Logan Brown on waivers for reassignment to AHL Syracuse, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Brown wasn’t previously under contract with the Bolts, so the move indicates he’s been promoted from his contract with Syracuse and signed to an NHL contract for the rest of the campaign.
It’s certainly eye-popping to see Atkinson, a veteran of over 800 NHL games, on the waiver wire. His performance after signing a one-year, $900K deal with the Bolts early in free agency, though, has left much to be desired. The 35-year-old has 3-5–8 through 36 games and is averaging a career-low 8:49 per night. He’s become an increasingly frequent healthy scratch as a result, sitting out a season-high four straight contests entering tonight’s game against his former team, the Blue Jackets.
Atkinson was still a semi-serviceable top-nine piece for the Flyers last year, posting 13-15–28 through 70 games. It wasn’t nearly enough to justify his $5.875MM cap hit, though, and Philadelphia opted to buy him out with one year remaining on his contract. The downturn in production from the diminutive yet skilled Atkinson came after he missed the entire 2022-23 campaign following neck surgery, one that unfortunately seems to have tanked his effectiveness in his career’s twilight.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2008 draft by the Blue Jackets, Atkinson was a top-six fixture in Columbus for a decade. He posted 402 points in 627 games with the club before they traded him to Philly in the 2021 offseason in a blockbuster one-for-one exchange that sent Jakub Voráček the other way. Injuries have derailed both players’ careers since, with Voráček since retiring due to concussions.
Now in Tampa, Atkinson has been superseded by players like Zemgus Girgensons and Gage Goncalves on their depth chart. He’s been tried at right wing on the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel – a role that’s Tampa’s top priority this week to fill. Waiving Atkinson gives them additional roster and salary cap flexibility to achieve that goal.
They’ll also add Brown as a recall option down the stretch, assuming he clears waivers. The 26-year-old center will earn a pro-rated salary of $775K in the NHL and $350K in the AHL down the stretch, per PuckPedia.
The No. 11 pick in the 2016 draft, Brown hasn’t skated in an NHL game since making 30 appearances for the Blues in the 2022-23 campaign. He signed a two-way deal with Tampa for 2023-24 but ended up spending the entire season on injured reserve following an undisclosed surgery. He returned to the Bolts on a camp tryout and landed an AHL deal with Syracuse, where the 6’6″ pivot has 7-12–19 through 25 appearances.
Brown won’t count against the Bolts’ active roster since he was waived on the same day he signed a contract.
Atkinson was such a great, And energetic player for years, Amazing accomplishments when you consider his size, This is probably the end.
average player
This is obviously for creating more cap space & even roster spots. GM BriseBois must be stewing up some trade possibilities here before the trade deadline. We shall see.
To update: Atkinson did not get sent to waivers as he’s playing for Tampa against Columbus. Friedman is wrong in his earlier report.
@FeeltheThunder – A player can play in an NHL game while on waivers since they’re not off the roster until they clear or are claimed. That does not invalidate Friedman’s report.
Fair enough.
Obviously TB 2026 1st is in play if it happens