Lightning Round: Tampa Bay announces training camp details

Sep 20, 2022 - 11:00 AM

We don’t have any words and we know you don’t want to hear them. We understand your anger, your frustration...as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run.

Look, I know I’m mixing my memes (and sports) but let’s face it, last season didn’t end the way any of us wanted, but it’s time to move on to this season. It’s no longer about defending the Stanley Cup, it’s about recapturing it. That mission begins for real on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced their roster for the 2022-23 NHL season. Fifty-six players will report to Tampa (well, some are already there, but you know what I mean) on Wednesday for medicals, testing, and a chance to chat with the media for the first time since watching the Colorado Avalanche celebrate on their ice. There are 29 forwards, 21 defensemen, and six goaltenders who will be competing to make the 23-person roster (25 if you count Anthony Cirelli and Zach Bogosian who will be on injured reserve) that heads to New York to take on the New York Rangers on October 11th.

Unlike with some other rosters around the league, there are no players on try-out contracts (with the exception of goaltender Brad Barone, who has played with the Orlando Solar Bears the last couple of seasons, since he’s already in the organization, that’s kind of a technicality). The Bolts are going to try and fill their needs from the players they already have under contract. Well, maybe. There could be the surprise late-in-training-camp trade if a player they like becomes available (and they can make the cap situation work).

A lot of the names are training camp fodder - young players who will be sent back to junior hockey or college early in the process, but there are some open spots on the roster that quite a few players will be competing for. The only positions that are locked in net with Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott, well, and Victor Hedman, and Nikita Kucherov. Other than that, it’s wide open, if not for roster spots, than for line positions.

Much like last season, expect a lot of line mixing in scrimmages and the pre-season games. There is a good chance that the team makes a ton of cuts early on to focus on the players that have a legitimate chance to make the roster (also to give the youngsters a chance to prepare for their other training camps).

Here is the roster (along with the uniform numbers they have been assigned):

FORWARDS (29)

12 BARRE-BOULET, Alex

41 BELLEMARE, Pierre-Edouard

51 CAJKOVIC, Maxim

71 CIRELLI, Anthony

79 COLTON, Ross

40 DUMONT, Gabriel

32 DUREAU, Jaydon

54 EDMONDS, Lucas

83 ELEMENT, Shawn

62 FINLEY, Jack

82 FORTIER, Gabriel

93 GONCALVES, Gage

38 HAGEL, Brandon

17 KILLORN, Alex

45 KOEPKE, Cole

86 KUCHEROV, Nikita

22 LABRIE, Pierre-Cedric

34 MACARTHUR, Bennett

14 MAROON, Pat

61 MISMASH, Grant

90 NAMESTNIKOV, Vladislav

20 PAUL, Nick

10 PERRY, Corey

21 POINT, Brayden

42 ROBERT, Felix

15 RYFORS, Simon

46 SMITH, Gemel

91 STAMKOS, Steven

58 USAU, Ilya

DEFENSEMEN (21)

24 BOGOSIAN, Zach

67 CARLILE, Declan

47 CARRICK, Trevor

81 CERNAK, Erik

28 COLE, Ian

74 DAY, Sean

59 FEIST, Tyson

7 FLEURY, Haydn

52 FOOTE, Cal

57 GILL, Dyllan

77 HEDMAN, Victor

84 JONES, Ryan

39 MACDONALD, Cameron

5 MYERS, Philippe

48 PERBIX, Nick

43 RADDYSH, Darren

76 SCHMIDT, Roman

78 SEMYKIN, Dmitry

98 SERGACHEV, Mikhail

64 THOMPSON, Jack

85 WALCOTT, Daniel

GOALTENDERS (6)

60 ALNEFELT, Hugo

70 BARONE, Brad

1 ELLIOTT, Brian

35 LAFONTAINE, Jack

33 LAGACE, Maxime

88 VASILEVSKIY, Andrei

Along with the roster, the Lightning announced their schedule for the next few weeks. The teams will be divided into two rosters. Unlike in past years they won’t have player names assigned to them, instead they will be refererred to as “20 Champs” and “21 Champs”.

All of the September practices will be held at the TGH IcePlex in Brandon. Stay tuned to the Lightning’s website to see which ones are open to the public. The first weekend of October will have a practice at Amalie Arena as part of the season kick-off festivities.

They will then head down to Hertz Arena in Naples for a few practices before taking on the Florida Panthers on October 6th in Sunrise. Then it’s back to Amalie and the TGH IcePlex before departing to New York to start the season. Here is the breakdown:

Thursday, September 22 – TGH IcePlex

SKILLS GROUP

8:30 am – 10:00 am Practice (North)

10:45 am – 11:15 am Workout

20 CHAMPS

9:30 am – 10:00 am Workout

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (North)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (North)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Practice (North)

21 CHAMPS

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (South)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (South)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Practice (South)

12:40 pm – 1:10 pm Workout

Friday, September 23 – TGH IcePlex

SKILLS GROUP

8:30 am – 10:00 am Practice (North)

10:45 am – 11:15 am Workout

20 CHAMPS

9:30 am – 10:00 am Workout

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (North)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (North)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Scrimmage (North)

21 CHAMPS

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (South)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (South)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Scrimmage (North)

12:40 pm – 1:10 pm Workout

Saturday, September 24 – TGH IcePlex

SKILLS GROUP

8:30 am – 10:00 am Practice (North)

20 CHAMPS

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (North)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (North)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Practice (North)

21 CHAMPS

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (South)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (South)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Practice (South)

Sunday, September 25 – TGH IcePlex

SKILLS GROUP

8:30 am – 10:00 am Practice (North)

10:45 am – 11:15 am Workout

20 CHAMPS

9:30 am – 10:00 am Workout

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (North)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (North)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Scrimmage (North)

21 CHAMPS

10:30 am – 10:45 am Goalies (South)

10:45 am – 11:30 am Practice (South)

11:50 am – 12:30 pm Scrimmage (North)

12:40 pm – 1:10 pm Workout

Monday, September 26

Day Off

Tuesday, September 27 – TGH IcePlex

GAME GROUP

9:30 am – 10:15 am Pre-Game Skate (North)

2:30 pm Charter to Raleigh, NC

7:00 pm Game @ Carolina Hurricanes

SOUTH RINK GROUP

9:45 am – 10:15 am Workout

10:45 am – 11:00 am Goalies (South)

11:00 am – 11:45 am Practice (South)

12:05 pm – 1:00 pm Combined Practice (North)

NORTH RINK GROUP

10:45 am – 11:00 am Goalies (North)

11:00 am – 11:45 am Practice (North)

12:05 pm – 1:00 pm Combined Practice (North)

1:15 pm – 1:45 pm Workout

Wednesday, September 28 – TGH IcePlex

GAME GROUP

10:00 am – 10:35 am Pre-Game Skate (North)

5:15 pm Team Meeting (AMALIE Arena)

7:00 pm Game vs. Carolina Hurricanes

NORTH RINK GROUP

11:00 am Goalies (North)

11:15 am – 12:10 pm Practice (North)

12:30 pm – 1:10 pm Combined Practice (North)

SOUTH RINK GROUP

11:00 am Goalies (South)

11:15 am – 12:10 pm Practice (South)

12:30 pm – 1:10 pm Combined Practice (North)

Thursday, September 29 – TGH IcePlex

GAME GROUP

10:00 am – 10:35 am Pre-Game Skate (North)

5:15 pm Team Meeting (AMALIE Arena)

7:00 pm Game vs. Nashville Predators

NORTH RINK GROUP

11:00 am Goalies (North)

11:15 am – 12:10 pm Practice (North)

12:30 pm – 1:10 pm Combined Practice (North)

1:20 pm – 2:00 pm Workout

SOUTH RINK GROUP

11:00 am Goalies (South)

11:15 am – 12:10 pm Practice (South)

12:30 pm – 1:10 pm Combined Practice (North)

1:20 pm – 2:00 pm Workout

Friday, September 30 – TGH IcePlex

GAME GROUP

5:00 pm Game @ Nashville Predators

NORTH RINK GROUP

10:30 am Goalies (North)

10:45 am – 12:00 pm Practice (North)

SOUTH RINK GROUP

10:30 am Goalies (South)

10:45 am – 12:00 pm Practice (South)

Saturday, October 1

Day Off

Sunday, October 2 – AMALIE Arena

9:30 am Workout

11:00 am Practice

Monday, October 3

8:30 am – 12:30 pm Coop’s Catch for Kids Charity Fishing Derby

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Awards/ Lunch at Hattrick’s

3:00 pm Bus to Naples, FL

Tuesday, October 4 – Hertz Arena

10:30 am Practice

Wednesday, October 5 – Hertz Arena

10:30 am Practice

Thursday, October 6

10:00 am Pre-Game Skate @ Hertz Arena

7:00 pm Game @ Florida Panthers

Friday, October 7 – TGH IcePlex

8:30 am – 11:00 am Breakfast

12:00 pm Practice

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Lunch

Saturday, October 8 – AMALIE Arena

4:00 pm Game vs. Florida Panthers

Sunday, October 9

Day Off

Monday, October 10

10:30 am Practice @ AMALIE Arena

Lightning / NHL News

Lightning finish winless at Prospect Showcase [Tampa Bay Lightning]

It’s a good thing that wins didn’t matter this weekend, because the young prospects for the Lightning didn’t pick any of those up against Nashville, Carolina, and Florida. They dropped their third match, 5-1, to the Hurricanes on Monday. Max Cajkovic scored the lone goal. Wins may not have been important, but Ben Groulx, who served as the head coach, wasn’t exactly pleased with how they lost.

“I don’t think it [their compete level] was good enough, not near where they have to be,” said Groulx. “I think it’s a disappointing result. Last year, we won the three games. This year, we lost the three of them, but I didn’t think we were close.

He’s the best.

The players get a day off and then head to Tampa with the rest of the crew to start training camp.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s salary cap situation heading into training camp [Raw Charge]

The good news is that the Lightning have a little more wiggle room this year than they did last year. That should help when the nagging injuries that knock a player out for a game or two crop up during the year. Do they have enough to make a splash at the trade deadline? Probably not, but Mr. BriseBois always finds a way to get what he needs.

Tampa Bay Lightning Top 25 Under 25 #10, Hugo Alnefelt [Raw Charge]

Not to ruin the surprise, but Alnefelt is the only goaltender on the list this year. He’ll be backing up Max Lagace in net in Syracuse and has a chance to take the starting role with a strong season.

NHL star mourns death of local hockey scout, billet at age 58 [The London Free Press]

Billet families play a big role in the development of prospects when they are in junior hockey. Often they are a second family for players that are 16 or 17-years-old. Andrew Shaw, who provided a home for Steven Stamkos while the Lightning captain was with the Sarnia Sting, passed away at the age of 58. He was also an OHL and NHL scout for the past 30 years, working with the Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Owen Sound Platers, and others.

Traaaaaaaaaaaaddddde [Blue Shirt Banter]

Young defenseman Nils Lundkvist made it clear earlier in the summer that he didn’t want to return to the New York Rangers organization. The Rangers complied with his wishes and traded him to the Dallas Stars for a couple of conditional picks:

• 2023 first round pick that is top-10 protected. If the Stars draft in the top 10, it rolls to an unprotected 2024 first rounder.
• 2025 fourth round pick that can become a third round pick if Lundkvist has 55 total points in the next two seasons.

That’s a pretty good haul for the Rangers considering their hand was forced a little. The Stars get a promising young prospect who was drafted 28th overall by New York in 2018.

NHL superstar roundtable [ESPN]

The gang at ESPN asked a bunch of superstars questions about the summer and the league overall. There were some entertaining answers (especially in regards to rule changes).

Sean Couturier reportedly out long-term with herniated disc [Broad Street Hockey]

The Philadelphia Flyers weird off-season continues as their top center is reportedly expected to miss a large portion of the season with a herniated disc in his back. The team has yet to confirm the report other then to say he’s “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury.