Tampa Bay Lightning Re-Assign F Erik Condra To Syracuse Crunch
The Tampa Bay Lightning have officially re-assigned Lightning forward Erik Condra to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
A large number of players from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, have made their way to and from the Sunshine State this season. Of course, this could easily be attributed to the ridiculous amount of injuries the team has been forced to deal with thus far.
Last week, the Lightning placed forward Erik Condra on waivers. For those of you who are unfamiliar, this is a process in which a team puts the rights to a player’s contract available to be claimed. This is usually done prior to re-assigning a player to the AHL.
Interestingly enough, after clearing waivers on Sunday, the Lightning didn’t re-assign Condra to the Crunch as one would’ve easily assumed. Instead, he remained in the Lightning lineup. While this made sense to absolutely no one, the bigger picture would soon become much clearer.
On Thursday night, before the puck dropped between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, the Lightning would announce the team had traded Nikita Nesterov to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Jonathan Racine and a 6th Round Pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
While Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper usually favors the 7/11 lineup, which consists of seven defensemen and 11 forwards, the trade agreement almost forced Cooper to go 6/12. This opened the door for Erik Condra to step out on the ice with the team once again.
Now, the NHL has hit the pause button on the season as a handful of players make their way to the Staples Center in Los Angeles to be a part of the 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend. The All-Star break is the perfect opportunity for some of the Lightning players to get healthy and make their way back to the lineup.
Keeping this in mind, what comes next is no surprise to fans here in the Bolts Nation. According to Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer Bryan Burns, the Lightning has officially re-assigned Erik Condra to the Syracuse Crunch.
Erik Condra has played in a total of 11 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. Unfortunately, in that amount of time Condra has managed to come up empty on the scoresheet. Thankfully, the 30-year-old forward has been having a much better season with the Syracuse Crunch.
The Trenton, Michigan native has played in a total of 25 games with the Crunch this season. In that amount of time, Condra has been able to bring home seven goals and 16 assists for a total of 23 points. These numbers place Condra in fifth place on the team in overall points.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are in desperate need of a shakeup. It seems as if Steve Yzerman has gotten to work earlier, so one could easily assume Nesterov is just the first player to hit the trade block this season.
Next: How Can The Lightning Get Back On Track?
While no announcement has been made by the Lightning, let’s hope Condra’s re-assignment to the Crunch is an indicator that one of the Lightning’s many injured players are preparing to make their way back onto the ice. The clock is ticking and the Tampa Bay Lightning are quickly running out of time to salvage their season.