The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Jake Dotchin from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has certainly had a lot of changeups in the lineup this season. Considering the insane amount of injuries the team has been forced to deal with this far, it comes as no surprise people are coming and going from the Sunshine State on a pretty frequent basis.
Just a couple of days ago, before the NHL All-Star break, the Tampa Bay Lightning re-assigned defenseman Jake Dotchin to the Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. While there was no official statement from the Bolts, the assumption is this was an effort to get Dotchin some playing time.
Well, it seems as if Dotchin is about to get a serious case of déjà vu. According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Bay Lightning have officially recalled Jake Dotchin from the Syracuse Crunch. Needless to say, he’ll more than likely be making his way back in time for the Lightning to take on the Boston Bruins.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Dotchin made his NHL debut on January 21st as the Lightning took on the Arizona Coyotes. The 22-year-old defenseman would play another two games with the Bolts before being re-assigned to the Crunch. While Dotchin has definitely served his purpose on the blueline, he hasn’t been able to make it to the scoresheet.
On the flip side, Dotchin has had a pretty decent offensive season with the Crunch. Jake Dotchin has played in a total of 33 games this far with the Crunch. In that amount of time, Dotchin has brought home nine goals and 12 assists for a total of 12 points alongside a plus-10 rating.
While there are never any guarantees in this business, given the fact the Lightning are down a defenseman after trading Nikita Nesterov to the Montreal Canadiens, there is a good chance we’ll see Dotchin out on the ice tomorrow night against the Bruins. Of course, this could change depending on any impending moves.
Things have definitely been tough this season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but if the team has any hopes of salvaging what’s left of the season and even the slightest possibility of reentering the playoff picture, they will have to make their move, and now.
Next: How Can The Lightning Get Back On Track?
The Boston Bruins are going to be quite a challenge for the Bolts; especially given their history in the previous two games this season, but this is a challenge the Lightning have overcome before and can easily do again. All the Lightning have left to do is put one skate in front of the other and stick to their system.