Andrei Vasilevskiy Out, Lightning Sign Kyle Konin To Emergency Contract
The Tampa Bay Lightning Will be without star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Vasilevskiy missed Tampa’s morning practice due to an illness, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Encina adds that backup Jonas Johansson will start the matchup, and that Kyle Konin has been signed to serve as an emergency backup.
In a rare occurrence for emergency backups, Konin has been in these shoes many times before. He filled an EBUG role for the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this season, supported Tampa Bay last April, and got a rookie lap with the St. Louis Blues in 2022. But despite multiple appearances, Konin hasn’t yet had to step into an NHL game. In fact, he hasn’t played since the 2018-19 season, when he set a .911 save percentage in 40 EHL games – a tier-three American juniors league. Konin now resides in Clearwater, Florida and works with a hockey-based scholarship program when he’s not being called to fill NHL benches.
But a warm story doesn’t reassure Tampa Bay’s chances on Tuesday. The Lightning are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Johansson has supported the squad to a manageable 6-4-1 record in his starts, on the back of a .892 save percentage and 3.27 goals-against average. Tampa Bay will also be without heavy hitting defenseman Emil Martinsen Lilleberg, who was suspended two games for a late and high hit on Detroit’s J.T. Compher in Tampa Bay’s loss on Saturday. Declan Carlile has been tapped to fill in for Lilleberg and will hopefully help limit a barrage against Johansson.
Lightning’s Emil Martinsen Lilleberg Receives Two-Game Suspension
Jan. 27th: The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has announced a two-game suspension for Lilleberg. In the announcement, the Department of Player Safety references the lateness of the hit and the significant contact of Compher’s head as their reasoning behind the supplemental discipline.
Jan. 26th: Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Martinsen Lilleberg is scheduled to have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for interference against Detroit Red Wings forward J.T. Compher in Saturday night’s loss. The hit came at 11:31 in the second period when Lilleberg stepped up for a late hit after Compher dumped the puck into the zone. The hit seemed high but it wasn’t clear if it contacted Compher’s head. Lilleberg received a two-minute penalty.
Lilleberg has been one of many depth defensemen to step up amid Tampa Bay’s string of blue-line injuries. He’s appeared in 45 of the team’s 48 games this season, rotating through roles on all three pairs. He has 11 assists and 76 penalty minutes on the year while playing in as little as 14 minutes or as much as 22 minutes each night. Lilleberg reached 82 career appearances with his last game, though he’s still searching for his first career goal. He recorded five assists and 16 penalty minutes in 37 appearances last season.
Tampa Bay saw the return of Erik Cernak in their Saturday matchup against Detroit, but they’re still without top-four defender J.J. Moser. Darren Raddysh has continued to serve next to Victor Hedman on the top pair, while Lilleberg and Nicklaus Perbix make up the bottom pair. Should Lilleberg face any form of suspension, the Bolts will likely turn towards one of Maxwell Crozier or Declan Carlile. The former has been the team’s de facto fill-in this month, but Carlile is the only left-shot of the team’s many injury fill-ins. Carlile has seven points and 37 penalty minutes in 36 AHL games this season but has only played in one NHL game.
Adding to this move, Tampa Bay has reassigned Crozier to the minor leagues. He served as the team’s seventh defenseman, but still dressed, for Saturday’s game – and could be called up again should Lilleberg face suspension.
Lightning Acquire Ryder Korczak From Rangers
The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired forward prospect Ryder Korczak from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward prospect Lucas Edmonds. Both players are in the midst of their third AHL season, after third-round selections in the 2021 and 2022 drafts respectively.
Neither player has managed much scoring in their early pro careers. Korczak has spent slightly longer in an NHL system. He was originally selected 75th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, after a season of being heralded as a second-to-third round pick. He was admired for his hard-working two-way play, high scoring, and leadership abilities through four years with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. He worked his way up to a staggering 69 points in 48 games in 2022-23, his final WHL season, before joining the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack for five games at the end of the year. Korczak has since worked his way through a middle-six role in Hartford. He scored 20 points in 67 games last season and is currently riding 11 points in 35 games this year. It’s commendable depth scoring, but far from what New York was hoping for from their gritty third-rounder.
After not landing a draft selection in 2019, 2020, or 2021 – the early-birthday Edmonds finally earned the 86th-overall selection in 2022 after posting 113 points in 68 games with the Kingston Frontenacs. He moved to the AHL in the following season and posted a commendable 15 goals and 27 points in 49 games as a rookie. But Edmonds has struggled to match those numbers since, totaling just 21 points in 71 games through the last two seasons.
Korczak and Edmonds share a lot of parallels – and will now get a chance to use a change of scenery to try and return to the heights of their junior scoring.
Cernak Out Tonight But Now Listed As Day-To-Day
The Tampa Bay Lightning will once again be without defenseman Erik Cernak, who was announced as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury short before puck-drop, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. He has missed Tampa Bay’s last three games since suffering an undisclosed injury on January 16th. Cernak left that game after just one shift but didn’t seem to suffer a clear injury.
Cernak has returned to the Lightning’s top four this season. The 27-year-old has scored 10 assists and averaged 18:15 in ice time through 41 games, putting him on pace to narrowly pass his career-high of 18 points set during the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He has been replaced in the lineup by rookie Maxwell Crozier, who’s still searching for his first point of the season after three NHL games. Crozier has also scored nine points in 22 AHL games this year. Cernak’s absence will likely return Crozier to the team’s second pair next to Ryan McDonagh, while Darren Raddysh‘s role on the top pair will go unchallenged for at least one more game.
Lightning Reassign Maxwell Crozier In Paper Transaction
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have again reassigned defenseman Maxwell Crozier to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Crozier has been filling in for the injured Erik Černák, managing a +1 rating in the last three games while averaging 17:06 of ice time per game. Remarkably, thanks to a consistently healthy roster, Crozier is only the eighth defenseman to play more than two games for the Lightning this season.
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Lightning Recall Maxwell Crozier In Paper Transaction
- As it turns out, defenseman Erik Černák isn’t expected back in the lineup tonight for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In his absence, the team has opted to recall defenseman Maxwell Crozier who recently filled in for Černák in Tampa Bay’s last game. Crozier skated in 14:25 of the Lightning’s recent win against the Detroit Red Wings but was reassigned yesterday for cap-related motivations.
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Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Maxwell Crozier, Erik Černák Questionable
Jan. 18th: According to a team announcement, Tampa Bay has reassigned Crozier to AHL Syracuse. The transaction indicates Černák will be available for tomorrow night’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his only game with the Lightning this season, Crozier went scoreless in 14:25 of yesterday’s win against the Detroit Red Wings adding three blocked shots and four hits.
Jan. 17th: The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Maxwell Crozier from the AHL Syracuse Crunch. The move could be an indication that Erik Cernak could be forced to sit out. Cernak left Tampa Bay’s Thursday win over Anahaim after just one shift. His injury has been left undisclosed, though he was designated as out day-to-day per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times.
Tampa Bay drafted Crozier in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He followed his draft selection with four years at Providence College, before turning pro with the Crunch at the end of the 2022-23 season. He’s primarily been a top-four defender in the AHL ever since, though Crozier did accumulate the first 13 games of his NHL career through various recalls last season. He managed two assists in those appearances. Crozier has served as one of Syracuse’s alternate captains this season and has nine points in 22 games. He’s scored eight of those points in his last eight games, putting him on a well-timed hot streak as he now heads to the NHL.
Cernak’s injury will open up upwards of 20 minutes on Tampa Bay’s defense. Darren Raddysh should be the primary beneficiary of those minutes, propping up his top-pair role next to Victor Hedman even more, while Nicklaus Perbix will return to his role in Tampa Bay’s top-four. Both Raddysh and Perbix have outscored Cernak this season, respectively netting 16 and 11 points to Cernak’s 10.
Erik Černák Ruled Out, Should Return Soon
- The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without one of their best defensive defensemen tonight. Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida reports that Erik Černák was made unavailable for tonight’s contest against the Red Wings but added the prognosis is better than expected so he shouldn’t be on the shelf for too long. Maxwell Crozier will replace Cernak tonight, joining Ryan McDonagh on the second defensive pairing. Crozier will play in his first game with Tampa Bay this season after tallying two assists in 13 contests last year.
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Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Jack Finley
Jan 15th: According to a team announcement, Tampa Bay has reassigned Finley to AHL Syracuse after making his NHL debut last night. He skated in 8:25 of yesterday’s contest and managed a +1 rating but failed to score his first point.
Jan. 14th: The Lightning recalled 6’6″ forward prospect Jack Finley from AHL Syracuse on Tuesday, per a team announcement. Forward Gage Goncalves headed back to Syracuse in a corresponding transaction after clearing waivers.
Finley, 22, is an option to make his NHL debut tonight against the Bruins. He’s currently projected as a healthy scratch and didn’t participate in morning skate, per the team’s Gabby Shirley, but he’s the only extra skater on the roster should an injury arise between now and game time.
Selected 57th overall in the 2020 draft, Finley didn’t participate in training the camp and started the year on the non-roster list after sustaining an undisclosed injury over the offseason. He was cleared to play and assigned to Syracuse one month ago to the day, and he’s posted a pair of goals and four assists for six points in 10 games since.
The hulking 220-lb center is developing nicely offensively. Now in his third professional campaign, he skated in 52 contests with Syracuse last season, recording a career-high 13 goals and 32 points – tied for fifth on the team.
Finley has long been projected as a likely bottom-six NHL piece, and his solid offensive production only reinforces that he won’t be too much of a liability with the puck to make it at the next level. It’s hard to see Finley sticking around long-term, but he’s done enough to at least warrant a trial and a chance at his first NHL game.
The Bolts still have a pair of open roster spots after swapping Finley and Goncalves for each other. Finley is waiver-exempt and won’t need them to return to Syracuse when his call-up is done.
Lightning Place Gage Goncalves On Waivers
The Lightning placed forward Gage Goncalves on waivers on Monday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. If he clears, he’ll be assigned to AHL Syracuse.
Goncalves, 23, started the season in the minors but was recalled in early November after an injury to Brayden Point. After being bounced between leagues a couple of times, he was recalled again from Syracuse on Nov. 19 and hasn’t been back since.
In his first extended look at the NHL level, Goncalves had a goal and an assist in 26 games. The British Columbia native averaged 11:45 per game, posting a minus-one rating with eight blocks and 22 hits. He was a drag on their possession play, controlling 47.1% of shot attempts at even strength. In comparison, the Bolts controlled 51.4% of shot attempts without Goncalves on the ice during his time in the lineup.
The Lightning have plenty of roster and salary cap space with no players on the verge of returning, so it’s purely a performance-based demotion for Goncalves today. He had six assists in five games for Syracuse before being recalled in November, building on a strong 58-point showing in 69 games last season.
Goncalves, a second-round pick by the Bolts in 2020, does still carry a bit of upside and faces a reasonable risk of being claimed. He’s a pending restricted free agent and will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer.