As the Tampa Bay Lightning prepares to take on the Ottawa Senators, the Lightning has recalled both Adam Erne and Yanni Gourde from the Syracuse Crunch.
Tampa Bay Lightning fans are still reeling from the news yesterday the Lightning had traded goaltender Ben Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Peter Budaj, Erik Cernak, and draft picks. Now, as the team prepares to take on an important Divisional opponent, the Lightning has made a few more moves.
Thankfully, at least for now, these moves only involve someone getting on a plane and making the trip from Syracuse. Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced today in a press release the team has recalled forwards Adam Erne and Yanni Gourde from the Syracuse Crunch.
There is something rather suspicious about this particular call up, and it has nothing to do with the particular players involved in the call-up. The Lightning has essentially cleared all of their injuries off the books with the exception of those to Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan. Why make a call at all?
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Sure, it would be perfectly plausible to recall one or the other in the event Jonathan Drouin wasn’t feeling quite up to par, after dealing with his own little case of the flu, but the both of them? We may be traversing our way into the realm of speculation here, but we can’t help but feel like Yzerman has something in store for fans.
Whether this is going to be good or bad has yet to be seen. Heck, it has yet to be seen whether another move is actually in the mix or if the post-Bishop trade paranoia has set in, but there is definitely something askew here in the Bolts Nation today.
In any case, let’s take a quick look at how these two phenomenal forwards have been doing so far this season. We’ll kick things off with Yanni Gourde.
Gourde hasn’t exactly had a lot of experience in the NHL so far this season. In fact, he’s only had the opportunity to play in two games, which were both in December, this season with the Lightning. Unfortunately, he was not able to make it onto the scoreboard in this period of time.
On the other hand, he has been having a stellar season with the Syracuse Crunch. In the 53 games the 25-year-old Quebec native has played in so far this season, he’s brought home 20 goals and 23 assists for a total of 43 points. Right now, he leads the team in goals and is in third place in overall points.
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Also have a pretty spectacular season is forward Adam Erne. Erne is in much the same situation as Gourde when it comes to playing time in the NHL this season. Erne has played in a mere four games with the Lightning, in which time he also was not able to translate to the scoreboard.
Now, his time with the Syracuse Crunch this season paints a much different picture. In the 39 games he’s played with the Crunch this season, Erne has brought home 14 goals and 13 assists for a total of 27 points. Erne is in second place on the team in goals and fifth in overall points.
Needless to say, both of these talented young forwards will make welcome additions to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup tonight as they take on the Ottawa Senators. Unfortunately, there is also an overwhelming suspicion something is at play here, it’s just not quite clear as to what this is.
Next: Ben Bishop Traded To Los Angeles Kings
As the time gets closer to puck drop, the bigger picture will almost undoubtedly come into view. The important thing now is the Lightning picks up the much-needed two points tonight and keeps them out of the hands of their Divisional rivals, the Ottawa Senators.