Prospect News

TAMPA BAY, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning have reassigned forward Radek Smolenak to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League, it was announced today by Lightning Executive Vice President & General Manager Brian Lawton.

Smolenak, 23, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound left wing from Prague, Czech Republic, appeared in 39 games with the Admirals this season, scoring seven goals and 14 assists with 49 penalty minutes. After skating in one regular season game with the Chicago Blackhawks to start the season, he was re-claimed on waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 10 and was reassigned to Norfolk. He was signed by the Lightning to a one-year contract on September 12.

There was a little pearl in Erik Erlendsson's blog post about Dustin Tokarski being returned to Norfolk and Riku Helenius being assigned to Sodertalje of the Elitserien. The Lightning are apparently intersted in once again making an attempt to sign Russian star goaltender Vasily Koshechkin, who is currently playing for Magnitogorsk in the KHL. Koshechkin, a mammoth 6'6" netminder who was an 8th round pick in 2002, has 14 shutouts over the past two seasons, and arguably has been the best netminder in Russia over the past four seasons. The Lightning made multiple attempts to sign Koshechkin when Jay Feaster was the team's GM, but Koshechkin always chose to remain in Russia. Will Koshechkin, who turns 27 in March, now try his hand at the best hockey league in the world?

The post also mentions the possibility of Karri Ramo returning from Omsk of the KHL as well. Ramo has one more year remaining on his deal with Avangard, but he has an NHL out clause for a signing window this summer. It is believed Koshechkin will be a free agent this summer after he signed with Magnitogorsk earlier this year when his original deal with his longtime club Togliatti was voided after Lada couldn't meet payroll on multiple occassions.

Steve Ewen of the Dub Hub is reporting that forward James Wright has been reassigned to his junior team, the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. From the Dub Hub phone interview with Wright, "I'm disappointed to be sent home. Any hockey player is disappointed when he doesn't make the team. But I'm going to try to keep a good head on my shoulders and play hard. They [Lightning] need to make the playoffs and this it the route they're going and it's hard for me but I do understand." Wright doesn't turn 20 until March 24th, so he is currently ineligible to be assigned to the Norfolk Admirals.

Earlier today, the Bolts claimed LW/C Nate Thompson off of waivers from the New York Islanders. Thompson, a 2003 6th round pick of the Boston Bruins signed a three-year entry level contract with the Bruins in 2005, but was claimed off waivers by the Islanders in October 2008. This past summer the Islanders resigned Thompson to a one-year contract.

Late tonight, after the conclusion of the Admirals' game against the Adirondack Phantoms, the Lightning and GM Brian Lawton announced that Head Coach Darren Rumble has been relieved of his duties. Assistant Coach Jim Johnson has been named the new Head Coach and Assistant Coach Leigh Mendelson will remain with the team. Rumble departs the Admirals, officially, with a 50-61-6-5 record in one and a half seasons with the team, although he unofficially assumed the role of Head Coach midway through the 2007-2008 season. Norfolk is currently 17-23-2 this season, which is last place in the AHL's East Division and six points out of a playoff spot.

In my mind, two things contributed to Brian Lawton's decision to make a move. First, although the Lightning have promoted several players to Tampa Bay this season, Norfolk returned a very deep roster dotted with numerous NHL and AHL veterans. While it may not have been fair to expect this team to be competing with Hershey for the division title, this roster probably should be in the thick of the pack in the East Division fighting for second or third, not in last place. The second factor is that, although some prospects like Blair Jones and Dustin Tokarski are having excellent seasons, some of the Lightning's most prized prospects have struggled, namely Matt Lashoff and Dana Tyrell.

To his credit, Rumble can claim to have placed several players in the NHL during his term as coach in Norfolk, including Zenon Konopka, Paul Szczechura, Mike Lundin, Steve Downie, and Matt Smaby.