Nov. 16: The Lightning announced they’d reassigned Pelletier back to Syracuse ahead of today’s game against the Canucks. He was replaced in the lineup by Brandon Hagel, whose absence due to an upper-body injury lasted just one game. Pelletier logged just 6:12 of ice time in his Lightning debut, managing three shot attempts, one block, and one hit.
Nov. 15: The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled forward Jakob Pelletier from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
Today’s move marks Pelletier as the third forward recalled from Syracuse over the last two days. Yesterday, the Lightning recalled forwards Boris Katchouk and Scott Sabourin.
Out of the three newly-recalled Lightning forwards, it’s Pelletier who has had the most successful season so far. The 24-year-old leads the Crunch in scoring with 14 points in 13 games. He’s proven to be a quality AHL scorer, hovering at around a point-per-game scoring rate since he made his professional debut in 2021-22 with the Stockton Heat, who have since been relocated.
The 2019 first-round pick hasn’t been able to translate that AHL success to the NHL level so far, though. In 86 career NHL games, Pelletier has 29 points. It was Pelletier’s inability to earn consistent, productive NHL minutes that led to him being non-tendered by the Philadelphia Flyers this past summer.
As an undersized winger without dynamic skating ability, Pelletier has always faced an uphill battle to earn a regular role in the NHL. So far, he hasn’t yet been able to stick in the world’s top league on a full-time basis, though he did get into almost 50 games last season.
With today’s recall, Pelletier gets his latest chance to prove himself at the NHL level. At this moment, it remains to be seen whether he’ll draw into head coach Jon Cooper’s lineup for the team’s contest this evening.
Taking a moment to look at the financial ramifications of this recall, it’s worth noting that this is the only year of Pelletier’s three-year, $775K AAV deal with the Lightning that carries a two-way structure. In each of 2026-27 and 2027-28, Pelletier is set to make $775K regardless of whether he’s on Tampa’s roster or in Syracuse.
But for 2025-26, Pelletier stands to make $250K in the AHL, $775K in the NHL, and carries a $350K total guarantee. While it’s unclear at this point how long Pelletier will remain on the Lightning’s NHL roster, this recall does at least enhance the player’s chances of eventually exceeding his $350K guarantee by the end of the season.
Always liked Pelts in Calgary. I hope he makes the best of this opportunity.