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Cameron Gaunce

Minor Transactions: 02/24/20

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With the trade deadline coming to a close at 2 p.m., many NHL teams are likely to make roster moves to replace or add to incoming/outgoing trades. On top of that, today is the deadline for AHL teams to fortify their rosters for the AHL playoffs, meaning NHL players must be on the AHL roster before the end of the day if they want to play in the playoffs. Keep an eye on this page throughout the day.

  • The Calgary Flames announced that they have assigned forward Buddy Robinson to the Stockton Heat of the AHL. Robinson has been scratched for the past eight games, but has a goal in five NHL games with the Flames. However, with 16 goals and 30 points in 40 games, it’s likely a move to ensure that Robinson gets some playoff time for the Heat, who are currently sitting in first place in the Pacific Division.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they have assigned forward Nick Merkley to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL, again a paper transaction so that the 22-year-old is eligible to play in the AHL playoffs down the road. Merkley has fared well in four games with the Devils since his recall, putting up a goal and an assist.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs made a move as they announced they have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The move could have something to do with trade rumors surrounding Tyson Barrie, but no such move has been made yet. Gravel has one assist in 15 games with the Marlies and is scoreless in three games for the Maple Leafs.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have assigned defenseman Cameron Gaunce to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The 29-year-old Gaunce has filled in for injuries to Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak and has fared well with a goal and four points in three games for the Lightning. He is likely headed down after Tampa Bay signed defenseman Zach Bogosian to a contract for the remainder of the year.
  • StarTribune’s Sarah McLellan reports that the Minnesota Wild have assigned forward Gerald Mayhew and defenseman Louis Belpedio to the Iowa Wild in the AHL, which allows both players to be eligible for the AHL playoffs. Iowa is currently in second place in the Central Division and will likely need Mayhew, who has notched 39 goals in 48 games (and another two in Minnesota). Belpedio has 18 points and 98 penalty minutes in Iowa.

Tampa Bay Lightning Re-Sign Cameron Gaunce

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed minor league defenseman Cameron Gaunce to a one-year, two-way contract. Gaunce was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but will stick around for another year.

Gaunce, 29, played 59 games for the Crunch this season and was their best offensive weapon on the blue line. Recording 46 points in 59 games he set new career highs in basically every category, and earned himself a chance to suit up with the Lightning twice. Even with that breakout season there is little reason to think that Gaunce will play a big role in Tampa Bay next season, instead likely heading to the AHL right away. He’ll have to clear waivers to do it, but he did that twice last season including just a few months ago.

Minor Transactions: 04/17/19

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The NHL playoffs are over for both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning they’ll have to wait until next season to enact any revenge. The Lightning experienced arguably the worst collapse in history when they were swept out of the first round after recording a historic 62-win season, while Sidney Crosby and the Penguins weren’t able to call on any postseason magic to overcome Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders. As teams are eliminated there will be minor moves made to clean up rosters, and we’ll be here to keep track of all of them.

Minor Transactions: 03/19/19

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If there were a list of the most important nights on the NHL schedule, this evening may rank pretty high. With ten games on tap there are key matchups all across the league, including a massive battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. Both teams are playing well and have actually started to chase down the top teams in the Metropolitan Division, coming into tonight’s action just three and six points behind the New York Islanders respectively. As teams prepare for all the big showdowns tonight, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Cameron Gaunce back to the minor leagues after serving as insurance last night. With Dan Girardi and Anton Stralman continuing their recovery, the team needed an extra defenseman just in case. Gaunce will return to the AHL where he has had an outstanding season and wait for his next opportunity at the NHL level.
  • Justin Bailey has been recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers once again, a normal occurrence lately for the young forward. Bailey has played seven games for the Flyers since being acquired earlier this season, but is still looking for his first point in the black and orange.

Minor Transactions: 03/18/19

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With ten games left in the regular season for most teams in the NHL, every match is incredibly important for those looking for a playoff spot. The schedule has just four games for tonight, but there are still some key matchups. The Arizona Coyotes try to keep their season alive against the league’s top team, while the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks face off in a potential first round preview. As teams prepare for the action, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • Cameron Gaunce has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are currently still without Dan Girardi and Anton Stralman. Gaunce likely won’t get into the lineup tonight—instead serving as insurance—but is certainly having a strong enough season to warrant an NHL stint. The 28-year old defenseman has 42 points in 56 games for the Syracuse Crunch, easily a career high.
  • The Boston Bruins have recalled Connor Clifton and Paul Carey from the AHL under emergency conditions, and had them both on the ice today at practice. Clifton was skating with Steven Kampfer on the third pairing, while Carey was working as an extra forward. The Bruins take on the New York Islanders tomorrow night in a matchup of potential Eastern Conference playoff teams, and are working to get healthy again before the postseason begins.
  • The Calgary Flames have recalled Curtis Lazar from Stockton, bringing up the former top prospect after a strong season in the AHL. Lazar has 37 points in 49 games for the Heat this season but has failed to get into a single NHL game.
  • Lukas Radil and Jacob Middleton are on their way back to the San Jose Sharks, back up after just a few days in the AHL. The pair were sent down on Friday to stay fresh but will be back up to help the team as they prepare for the Golden Knights tonight.
  • Speaking of quick turnarounds, Justin Bailey is on his way back to the minor leagues. The Philadelphia Flyers forward has been involved in almost daily transactions all month, bouncing back and forth between the NHL and AHL.

Minor Transactions: 11/09/18

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The NHL is unusually active for a Friday night, with six games on the schedule including the Hall of Fame game in Toronto. The New Jersey Devils will take part in the game honoring the new inductees which include Martin Brodeur, Martin St. Louis, Willie O’Ree, Alexander Yakushev, Jayna Hefford and Gary Bettman. As the league prepares to induct some of the greatest to play the game, we’ll keep track on all the more minor moves around the league.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have reassigned Cameron Gaunce to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL after almost two weeks with the team. Gaunce never did suit up for the Lightning, and will now try to get back into game shape with the Crunch. The 28-year old defenseman will likely be the extra man called up several times this season, though his playing time is expected to be restricted to mostly the minor leagues.
  • Given John Klingberg’s injury, the Dallas Stars have recalled defenseman Joel Hanley from the minor leagues. They’ve also moved both Klingberg and Alexander Radulov to injured reserve, though the latter’s stint is retroactive to October 30th. Hanley has five points in 11 AHL games this season, and will try to force his way into the NHL lineup now that they’re missing a big part of their blue line for at least a month.
  • The Ottawa Senators have returned Erik Burgdoerfer to the minor leagues, even as they start their short two-game road trip in Florida. Burgdoerfer has played in just a single game with Ottawa this season, and will spend most of the year in the minor leagues.
  • Jesper Bratt has been officially activated by the Devils and should be in the lineup tonight, a move that needed no corresponding transaction given that Eddie Lack cleared waivers and can remain in the minor leagues. Lack had been on conditioning loan to the Binghamton Devils and will now stay there on assignment. The Devils have sent Kurtis Gabriel back to the AHL though, in order to activate Stefan Noesen for tonight’s game.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have returned a pair of young players to the AHL. The team announced that forward Sam Carrick and defenseman Andy Welinski have been reassigned to the San Diego Gulls. Both players have logged considerable time in the minors already this season, but have only suited up for eight games total for the Ducks.

Minor Transactions: 10/27/18

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Rivalries are set to renew tonight, with the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens set to square off for the first time this season and the St. Louis Blues looking to bounce back from two early losses to the Chicago Blackhawks. Teams in action tonight as well as teams adjusting from a particularly painful slate of games last night will be making roster moves throughout the day. Keep up with the changes here:

  • One of those aforementioned injuries last night was sustained by the Ottawa Senators’ Zack Smith, who sustained a facial fracture in a loss to the Colorado Avalanche. With the Sens currently on a road trip and set to face the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow, the team has worked quickly to replace Smith’s roster spot. The team announced the recall of forward Jack Rodewald from their AHL affiliate in Belleville. Rodewald skated in four games with Ottawa last season and was held scoreless, but is off to a hot start in the minors with seven points in eight games.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have activated defenseman Matt Benning from the injured reserve. Benning was placed on the IR last week with an undisclosed injury and has returned as soon as possible from the mysterious ailment. In a corresponding move, the Oilers have returned Kevin Gravel to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Gravel had been called up to replace Benning, but saw very limited ice time in two games with Edmonton. The free agent addition will have to return to the minors, where he had played well, and continue to show that he is worthy of an NHL roster spot.
  • Veteran forward Ryan White has signed a PTO with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, the team announced. White, spent the entire 2017-18 season outside the NHL – split between the AHL’s San Diego Gulls and Iowa Wild – for the first time since his first pro season in the Montreal Canadiens’s system in 2008-09. The experienced grinder has had trouble locking down a job at all for this season, attending camp with the Minnesota Wild and then returning to Iowa, but to no avail. The owner of 313 NHL games (and 447 penalty minutes) could bring leadership and grit to Manitoba if he can prove that he can still skate at a pro level. White is the type of player who could even earn a pro-rated NHL contract late in the year with Winnipeg as fourth line depth. Only time will tell how this latest stop works out for the veteran.
  • The Jets have recalled defenseman Tucker Poolman from Manitoba, who makes his return to the Winnipeg lineup. The 25-year-old skated in 25 games with the Jets last year in his first pro season, but failed to break camp this year. The University of North Dakota stalwart is a more than capable defender, but suffers from playing in a deep organization. Blocked by Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfuglien, and Tyler Myers on the right side of the blue line, Poolman is not guaranteed to see the ice on this recall, but will make the most of the opportunity if he does.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning decided to go with a veteran minor league defenseman to replace Victor Hedman in the lineup for the next week until he is re-evaluated while the all-star is forced to sit out with an upper-body injury. The Lightning announced they have recalled Cameron Gaunce from Syracuse of the AHL who likely will be used as an extra defender for the team. The 28-year-old has already played eight full seasons in the AHL, while only having appeared in 32 NHL games during that span. He currently has a goal and an assist in six games with the Crunch.

Thirty-Five Players Placed On Waivers

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After 25 players were placed on waivers Friday and another seven Saturday (all of which cleared), the biggest yet came today with 35 more players being placed on waivers, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.

F Andy Andreoff (Tampa Bay)
F Chase Balisy (Ottawa)
D Julius Bergman (Ottawa)
F Connor Brickley (Nashville)
G Peter Budaj (Los Angeles)
F Michael Bunting (Arizona)
D Erik Burgdoerfer (Ottawa)
F Tim Clifton (San Jose)
F Gabriel Dumont (Tampa Bay)
D Stefan Elliott (Pittsburgh)
F Kurtis Gabriel (New Jersey)
F Tyler Gaudet (Nashville)
D Cameron Gaunce (Tampa Bay)
G Troy Grosenick (Nashville)
F Jimmy Hayes (Pittsburgh)
G Maxime Lagace (Vegas)
F Tobias Lindberg (Pittsburgh)
F Stefan Matteau (Vegas)
G John Muse (Pittsburgh)
G Eddie Pasquale (Tampa Bay)
F Nick Paul (Ottawa)
F Blake Pietila (New Jersey)
F Kevin Porter (Buffalo)
D John Ramage (New Jersey)
D Griffin Reinhart (Vegas)
F Ben Sexton (Ottawa)
D Patrick Sieloff (Ottawa)
D Brian Strait (New Jersey)
D Chris Summers (Pittsburgh)
F Adam Tambellini (Ottawa)
F Eric Tangradi (New Jersey)
D Jarred Tinordi (Nashville)
F T.J. Tynan (Vegas)
F Carter Verhaeghe (Tampa Bay)
F Garrett Wilson (Pittsburgh)

One of the more interesting players put on waivers is Reinhart, the fourth-overall pick back in 2012, who the Golden Knights took a flier on in the expansion draft. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound blueliner has never been able to match his size and skills together to make considerable NHL contributions. It was no different in Vegas, where the now 24-year-old never made an NHL appearance for the Golden Knights. He played 60 games for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves where he posted just two goals and 12 points.

Budaj, who has been a solid goaltender in previous year, may be past his prime as the 36-year-old couldn’t make an impact in Tampa Bay or Los Angeles last year, both places where they had backup goaltending issues at one point in the season last year. In eight games with the Lightning last year, he posted a 3.75 GAA and a .876 save percentage.

Other interesting players who saw significant NHL time last season include Andreoff, Brickley, Hayes, Dumont and Lagace.

 

2018-19 Season Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

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With the NHL season now just a month away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Today, we focus on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Last Season: 54-23-5 record (113 points), third in the Atlantic Division (lost to Washington in the Eastern Conference Finals)

Remaining Cap Space: $2.646MM per CapFriendly

Key Additions: D Cameron Gaunce (free agent, Columbus); Kevin Lynch (free agent, Syracuse Crunch (AHL))

Key Departures: F Chris Kunitz (free agent, Chicago Blackhawks); D Andrej Sustr (Anaheim Ducks); F Matthew Peca (Montreal Canadiens); F Erik Condra (Dallas Stars); Mathew Bodie (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)); F Alex Gallant (Vegas Golden Knights)

[Related: Lightning Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Player To Watch: F Nikita Kucherov – The 25-year-old superstar quietly signed a eight-year, $76MM extension this offseason and after breaking the 100-point barrier, many wonder if Kucherov takes another step this season. He broke the 100-point barrier last year as his assist totals took a jump, most likely in part because of his success playing next to center Steven Stamkos.

However, is there more that Kucherov can do to help the team capture a Stanley Cup? The winger took his game up a notch after the 2016-17 season when he jumped from 30 to 40 goals. Then last season, he took those assists up a notch, raising his assist totals from 45 to 61, while maintaining his goal-scoring prowess as he still tallied 39 goals last season.

The real question is whether the 100-point performance last season is just Kucherov scratching the surface of his potential or whether he will slip back to his 80-pont ways. No matter what, he remains one of the best plaeyrs in the NHL, but one wonders how much better he can be.

Key Storyline: General manager Steve Yzerman has never been shy of making a big trade to add talent for their Stanley Cup run. He did that at the trade deadline last year when the team went out and acquired two key pieces for their run when they got defenseman Ryan McDonagh and winger J.T. Miller, both who were critical to their playoff run. Unfortunately, they hit the Washington Capitals’ wall and failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, but they were extremely close.

The team didn’t make many moves in the offseason, but were rumored to be in on a potential Erik Karlsson trade and at one point it looked like it was a done deal. However, the team may not have been ready to part with talented defenseman Mikhail Sergachev at the time. However, with Karlsson still in Ottawa, don’t be shocked if the Lightning do everything it can to bring the star defenseman aboard. If the team could find itself with a top-four of Victor Hedman, McDonagh, Karlsson and Sergachev, the team’s defense might be the best in hockey.

Overall Outlook: There may be only eight teams that could be considered legitimate candidates to win the Stanley Cup this year and Tampa Bay would likely be considered among the top two or three teams this year. With their offensive success throughout their forward lines as well as a developing defense with two solid top-two defenders on the roster and the most talented young goaltender in the NHL at the moment in Andrei Vasilevskiy, the team is in good hands for the 2018-19 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tampa Bay Signs Cameron Gaunce, Kevin Lynch

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have added another option on the back end. The team has announced a one-year, two-way deal with defenseman Cameron Gaunce. Salary terms have not been disclosed, but it seems unlikely that Gaunce would secure anything above the minimum of $650K at the NHL level. The same could be said for Kevin Lynch, who also has signed a one-year, two-way contract with remain with the team.

Gaunce, 28, has bounced around the minor leagues since being selected in the second round ten years ago by the Colorado Avalanche. Playing last season for the Cleveland Monsters, he collected 24 points in 67 games but failed to make it up to the Columbus Blue Jackets for any games. In Tampa, he’ll almost surely be ticketed for the Syracuse Crunch for the entire season, and asked to lend a veteran hand to their minor league squad.

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