Following their elimination at the hands of the Panthers on Wednesday, the Lightning have extended the seasons for two of their younger players for at least one more day. The team announced that defenseman Maxwell Crozier and center Conor Geekie have been assigned to AHL Syracuse.
Crozier’s stint with the big club was short-lived as he was only recalled yesterday to serve as extra depth for the final game of the series. He only played in five regular season games with Tampa Bay this year after suiting up 13 times (plus three playoff contests) last season for them. The 25-year-old had 34 points in 52 games with the Crunch this season and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer.
As for Geekie, the 20-year-old was a key part of the return for Mikhail Sergachev in the trade with Utah back at the draft. The 11th overall pick in 2022, Geekie spent most of the year with Tampa Bay but in a fairly limited role as he logged just over 12 minutes a night of ice time while chipping in with eight goals and six assists. That earned him a midseason assignment to the Crunch where he was much more impactful offensively, tallying 11 goals and nine helpers in 24 games. Geekie was brought back up late in the year and got into four postseason contests where he had one assist in nearly identical ice time compared to the regular season.
Both players are in uniform tonight for the Crunch against Rochester. It’s a must-win game for Syracuse as they’re down two games to none in their best-of-five second-round series.