The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that forward Conor Geekie has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. In a corresponding move, the club recalled defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous.
Geekie lined up on Tampa’s second line for their most recent game, but has just one assist through six NHL games this season. It’s possible the club could view a stint in the AHL, where he has thus far been successful (20 points in 24 career games) as a way to help him regain some confidence. It’s also entirely possible Geekie is recalled before the club’s next game, which is on Thursday.
This recall of D’Astous comes as the Lightning manage an injury suffered by Maxwell Crozier, the player the Lightning entered the season with slotted in as their seventh defenseman. It was announced last week that Crozier would land on IR with an undisclosed injury, and no further update on his status has been provided. During Crozier’s absence, veteran Steven Santini had served as the club’s spare blueliner, but Santini was reassigned to Syracuse yesterday.
Since the Lightning don’t play until Thursday, meaning there’s still a decent runway for Crozier to return from IR in time for the club’s next game. But if he does not, this recall positions D’Astous as the team’s spare blueliner, giving him a chance to make his NHL debut.
The 27-year-old has been on quite the hockey journey to reach this point. He finished his junior career as a star in the QMJHL for the Rimouski Oceanic, serving as the top-scoring blueliner and captain for a team that featured 2020 No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere.
Despite winning QMJHL Defenseman of the Year honors in his final year of junior hockey (and CHL Humanitarian of the Year for his work with local charities in Rimouski), D’Astous didn’t receive NHL interest. He signed a two-year AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins, and failed to make their AHL squad out of training camp. He spent almost his entire first season as a pro in the ECHL, scoring 22 points in 46 games.
His encouraging progress in the ECHL earned him a late-season three-game cameo with Grand Rapids (where he would score his first AHL goal), but his progress slowed to a halt in 2020-21, as the COVID-19 pandemic greatly limited the number of games able to be played in the minor leagues.
D’Astous became a free agent at the end of his contract, and signed a one-year, two-way AHL/ECHL deal with the Colorado Eagles. While he only played in the AHL for one month of the season, D’Astous was stellar in the ECHL. He had a breakout season, scoring 57 points in 52 regular-season games and a whopping 30 points in 18 playoff games, winning ECHL Defender of the Year honors.
For many skaters, success in the ECHL isn’t a realistic path right to the NHL. But for the league’s best players, success in the ECHL presents a very realistic path to getting an opportunity to sign a contract in a high-level European league. Those opportunities often offer higher pay and a more comfortable playing experience than a player might find in the ECHL. The European path is the one D’Astous took, cashing in on his stellar ECHL season to sign a contract with KooKoo in the Finnish Liiga.
Just like his experience in the ECHL, it took D’Astous a year to adjust to the European pro game. But by 2023-24, he had found his groove. He scored 17 goals and 46 points in just 54 Liiga games for KooKoo in his second season there, leading the entire Liiga in time-on-ice per game and winning the league’s Defenseman of the Year honors.
His success in Finland earned him a two-year deal with SHL’s Brynas IF, and there, no adjustment period was needed. D’Astous was once again excellent, scoring 39 points in 49 games and winning the SHL’s Defenseman of the Year honors.
In a period of just four seasons, D’Astous had captured the Defenseman of the Year honors in three separate professional leagues. That undeniable track record of success finally earned D’Astous the NHL contract he’d been seeking, as the Lightning signed him to a one-year deal carrying a $775K NHL salary, $150K AHL salary, and $200K guarantee.
Now back in North America, D’Astous has picked up where he left off. He’s currently playing in a number-one defenseman role for the Crunch, playing a heavy workload in all situations through four games and leading his team in scoring by a blueliner with a goal and two assists.
Even if he doesn’t end up getting to play in the NHL on this current recall, the transaction is nonetheless a tangible reward for a player who has worked tirelessly to climb up the ladder of pro hockey.
Little surprised by Conor Geekie being sent down as he was playing better with each game. Furthermore, he was one of the better players for Tampa against Columbus. I don’t think Geekie will be in the AHL for long.
As for Charle-Edouard D’Astous, he’s a left shot defenseman and would compete with the underperforming Emil Lilleberg on the third pairing spot. D’Astous would pair with Darren Raddysh if he plays. Lilleberg has been rather poor on the defensive side (making many misreads) and D’Astous could be a needed improvement for the third pairing as Lilleberg seems like he’s not improving nor is he the answer for the third pairing.
The Geekie demotion is more about getting him top 6 consistent minutes in the AHL, while they work out the malaise of the rest of the forward group. Playing 4th line minutes on a team that has no puck possession and does not play with a lead with top 3 lines, makes his situation useless.
I was hoping the would recall CED and Dominic James. The lighting, especially on the blue line, are old and slow. Moser has not provided the puck moving, skate out of trouble skill set that the team needs. I am hoping CED plays well and gives them a boost.
Victor Hedman moves like an elephant and his decision making has been slower than that. Big disappointment. He cost them a point in Washington with the failed clear and another in Detroit, with the failed tip. There is no bigger Lighting cheer leader than me and I am telling you, VH does not have the fire to be the captain his team needs right now. Stamkos would stand up and fight and try. Hedman consistently 2nd man to puck in corners/walls. He looks like me at 55 playing against 35 year olds. He needs to play with more jump and decisiveness.
McDonough has looked slower and Cernak has been poor handling the puck. With a healthy Crozier, he needs to play along side Hedman or McDonough and Moser with Cernak. More speed is needed on the blue line and better pairings.
Sadly the team, with some of the changes looks just like they did against the panthers last spring. Uninspired and inconsistent. With consistent effort and hunger, they are easily top 5. it might be time to start questioning the drive and motivation of some guys. I as a fan am tired of the lip service about the tradition and knowing how to win. Shut up and skate. Win some races, win some puck battles.
Dominic James gives them another option with the ability to skate the puck out of trouble and the kid has elite hockey IQ.
Lastly, who coaches face offs. Not just the draw, but the retreival. I have never seen an NHL team look so bad. When they lose draws, they give up grade A shots 80plus % of the time. When they win the draw, more than half the time they turn it over or flip it out. This part of the game is 50% strategy/patterns and 90% heart grit and determination. OMG retrieve a puck!
Cooper either wins the Adams award finally this year or loses the room and gets fired. That is my prediction this year.
You have to remember, Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh had little to no preseason play which is playing a part in how they’re performing right now. They’ll improve and be better as time goes on here. We are very early into the season here (6 games, that’s it).
Hedman has said in the past, it takes him about the first month of the season to get his body up to speed with the regular season play. Hedman will be fine.
McDonagh and Cernak need to stay together as things will begin to click. It took them a bit last season to get in that shutdown mode but once they do, they’re one of the best bluelines in the NHL.
I think Moser will be staying with Hedman for now. There is a possibility of Moser getting shifted to the third pairing to strengthen the left side if other options don’t work out. Then someone like Crozier or Raddysh move up to pair with Hedman while the other stays on the third pairing.
The good news is Tampa has some depth options for defense with a couple of AHL talents showing they could be worthy. In the meantime, just have to let things progress and develop over the course. I feel these 4 days off could be a good reset for the team.
I respect your optimism, but we are getting to a point where we are whistling past the grave yard when we see the same patterns that doomed the team the last few years rear their head.
Getting outshot one game or for a stretch here and there is ok. I have never seen a team, supposedly trying to shoot more, still manage 10 shots in 2 periods for 3 out of 4 games…
They get hemmed in and if you watch closely, it is because their defensemen lose EVERY race to the wall to get pucks.
CED could be found money and what the doctor ordered. Raddysh, while a gamer is a seventh dman at best.
I’m going have to disagree here, saying the team is getting past the “graveyard” point is really putting the cart before the horse here. Sorry but we’re only 6 games into the season. All teams are figuring themselves out and some figure it out sooner than others but sounding the alarms in the first month of the season is overdramatic at this point. If this was late November/early December then I would say okay, there is an issue but this early in the season, no way.
The shooting aspect is more about consistency (Cooper mentioned this yesterday). It’s a mentality and something they just have to be consistent about. Tampa has never been a high volume team but once they get more consistent with the mentality, they’ll be getting more shot attempts.
If the defensemen are getting beaten, it’s because the overall team is letting the opponent beat them in the neutral zone and getting the rush attacks. It’s all fixable and again that comes with being consistent in their play.
A seventh defenseman doesn’t produce 37 points. Raddysh is a top 6 defenseman. Lilleberg is more a seventh or eighth defenseman in that respect.
Bad and inconsistent effort is not just tough luck, which evens out over time.
Consistently having 10 to 12 shots after 2 periods means you do not have the puck. And if you have the puck and want to play pretty…that leads to poor puck management and turnovers and poor gaps going the other way.
Which is what leads to the defensemen getting beat to the puck consistently. Some of it is numbers, but a lot of it is being slow to react while in their own zone.
Nobody loves and believes in this team more than me, but their MO is if they play a period and make a few nice plays for goals, they mail it in. And worse yet, they try to play prettier. They have lost their games primarily because the other team throw pucks at the next and get a bounce and greasy goal. They refuse to shoot often, because they are too lazy and have no will to retrieve pucks.
They have the speed and skill to dominate, should they decide to commit to the effort to retrieve pucks. East west nonsense, leads to turnovers, odd man breaks and chaos in their own end. Hockey is a simple game when you manage the puck correctly.
Lastly, I should have started out by pointing out that losing faceoffs and not having the ability to make a pass after winning a faceoff starts all the dominos after the first paragraph.
As I asked for, I also get Dominic James…..
Slow learners…holy smokes. Another chance to eek out at least a point and in your last minute, your captain is below the dots in the offensive zone, and your best player makes a high risk play, turns the puck over, and half asses his back check…and viola, you lose.
Yes overall, effort was much improved. Even looked like a real nhl team on the draws most of the night.
If I hear one more player talk about process…I am going to lose my s***. You are in the NHL. The process you refer to is intelligently managing the puck in situations. The hawks were happy with a point and had 4 guys back the last 4 minutes of the game. They cleared pucks out and dumped pucks in.
They talk about process, like these guys are all 5 years old and have to really think about playing the game the right way.
If Hedman stays on the blue line and Kuch turns the puck over. Nazar goes nowhere. Hedman’s head is in his ass.
That is almost as dumb as not clearing the puck down during the PK in Washington last week.
They don’t get beat, they give games away and beat themselves. Embarrasing.