Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Joel Vermin From Syracuse Crunch
The Tampa Bay Lightning has recalled forward Joel Vermin from the Syracuse Crunch, and the revolving door continues between the NHL and AHL.
Another man up, another man down. That has been a common theme for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, and because the team has been hit by a plethora of injuries, the Lightning has had to call-up several players from the AHL affilate, the Syracuse Crunch, and send several back down fairly quickly.
More recently, the Lightning has brought up players like Adam Erne, Gabriel Dumont and Adam Wilcox for the first time, and forwards Michael Bournival, Matthew Peca, Tanner Richard, Cory Conacher, Erik Condra, and Yanni Gourde, defensemen Slater Koekkoek and Luke Witkowski and goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis have all made the trip to Tampa and back at least once.
This time, Joel Vermin has been called up again by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vermin previously spent time with the Lightning in December, playing in eight games with the team before getting re-assigned on Dec. 19. During that span, the 24-year-old Switzerland native had two assists and a plus-3 rating.
On the same day when Vermin was sent down, Richard was recalled from Syracuse, and he appeared in three games with the Lightning before getting re-assigned on Dec. 26.
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As you can see, the Lightning really hasn’t been able to field a consistent lineup all this season, and with key players still out and the possibility of injuries to come (hopefully not), Tampa Bay could be rolling with these same types of lineups on a game-to-game basis until the end of the regular season.
Though I don’t want to use the same excuses for justifying why the Tampa Bay Lightning has struggled so much this season, I will say that the injuries have played a huge factor in the team’s struggles, and this is already a well-established fact among the fanbase.
The Lightning needs to get healthier as the season progresses (we’re already past the halfway point, so there’s not a lot of time here to get back on track), and we haven’t seen the team string together multiple wins a row in a while. Last year around this time, Tampa Bay was in the midst of a seven-game win streak, and that helped propel the Lightning up in the standings.
Before the season is lost, the Tampa Bay Lightning must find a way to do this despite the setbacks and go on a hot streak. Sometimes bringing up new players from the minors can help provide a spark to the team, and though Vermin has already taken the ice for the Lightning this season, hopefully he can provide some offense and contribute all over the ice as well.
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Several players from the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s AHL affiliate, Syracuse Crunch, have been recalled and re-assigned this season, and Joel Vermin is just one of many that have gone through the revolving door of players coming in and going out of the lineup this season. Though we hope to see the regulars find their way back into the lineup soon, it’s nice to see players like Vermin get a chance to play in the NHL every so often.