Erik Condra Is A ‘Pain In The Butt To Play Against’

Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Erik Condra is already making a name for himself here in the Bolts Nation, both with the fans and the players he takes the ice with each and every game.

Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman wasted absolutely no time in getting down to business this year when the Free Agency Period opened up. One of the first moves Yzerman made was securing a veteran forward to fill the void left by former Lightning left wing Brenden Morrow.

This is where the Tampa Bay Lightning’s newest addition, right wing Erik Condra comes into play. Condra is a hard-hitting forward with a reputation of breaking up plays and making his presence known on the ice. Condra was originally drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the 7^th Round (211^th overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The six foot tall, one hundred and ninety pound forward would join the Senators’ AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, in the 2009-10 season after finishing off his college career at the University of Notre Dame. Fast forward a little bit to last season, and Condra had one of the best seasons of his career thus far.

Playing in just 68 games with the Senators, Condra was able to score 9 goals and 14 assists for a total of 23 points to accompany his plus-13 rating. This is a career high in goals for Condra and a second-best record in overall points. At the conclusion of the 2014-15 season Condra became an Unrestricted Free Agent, and despite being made offers by the Senators, elected to come to the Bolts Nation.

Condra has only been on the ice a handful of times since coming to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the feisty forward has wasted no time in making a name for himself both on and off the ice. Thankfully, the on-ice talk has been pretty favorable for the Lightning’s latest addition.

There is no doubt that Condra will be a big contributor to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s penalty kill next season. This is an area in which the Lightning have struggled in the past and truly need to get a handle on if they want to find themselves in a similar position to the one they found themselves in last season.

According to one of his teammates, Condra is well on his way to making his presence known here in Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay Times Staff Writer Joe Smith caught up with Lightning center Brian Boyle who had nothing but positive things to say about his new teammate.

"“He’s a pain in the butt to play against,” Boyle told Smith. “And you can’t have enough of those.”"

If his own teammate considers him a pain in the behind to play against, and they are on the same side, imagine what kind of a pain in the behind he is going to be to the opposing team who is trying to get one over on him.

At the same time, Condra is really excited to join the team and can’t wait to see where the 2015-16 season is going to take him and his new teammates.

"“They had a great run, but they’re not satisfied,” Condra told Joe Smith. “I’m excited to be a part of a team that has a real shot at it.”"

Anyone who watched the Tampa Bay Lightning play in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs knows all-too-well that tenacity of this young Lightning roster. A number of these young players got their first taste of what it means to play on a much bigger stage and is chomping at the bit to get another chance at it. As the old saying goes, once you’ve had a taste of success you can’t help but want more.

Now that the Bolts have someone like Condra who seems to thrive on the Penalty Kill and is aggressive in getting in front of the play it will be interesting to see how the lines come together. The one thing that we know for sure is that the Tampa Bay Lightning will be ready to come out of the gate with a furious charge and expect to see the same fight they showed in the postseason from the first moment they hit the ice.

Next: Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Long Road Ahead

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