Barberio, Mark

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have trimmed their roster by 21 players today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. The team now has 28 players in camp. All 21 players will report to the Norfolk Admirals training camp, which begins on Tuesday.

The prospects that were reassigned to Norfolk include forwards Mitch Fadden, Stefano Giliati, Alex Hutchings, Juraj Simek, and the barely graduated James Wright and Paul Szczechura; defensemen Mark Barberio, Radko Gudas, Scott Jackson, Vladimir Mihalik, Kevin Quick, and Ty Wishart; and goaltenders Jaroslav Janus and Dustin Tokarski.

Overage prospects cut from the Lightning training camp include forwards Mike Angelidis, Alex Berry, Mitch Fritz, Blair Jones, and Niklas Persson.

Forwards Matt Fornataro and Tim Marks, who were invited to the Tampa camp as try-outs, have AHL contracts with the Admirals and will join the Lightning organizational players for the opening of the Norfolk training camp on Tuesday.

Angelidis, Fritz, Jones, Mihalik, Simek, and Szczechura must all clear waivers before their reassignment to Norfolk is complete.

2008 draft pick Mark Barberio scored an unassisted goal 40 seconds into the 2nd half of Sunday's training camp scrimmage to give Team Black a 2-0 lead. Team Black had posted the only marker in the 1st half as 2010 1st rounder Brett Connolly and Martin St. Louis assisted on a Steven Stamkos tally. Prospect Stefano Giliati, an off-season acquisition from Toronto in the Matt Lashoff trade, opened the scoring for Team White with assists from 2006 draftee Kevin Quick and Dominic Moore. Simon Gagne then netted his first goal in a Lightning jersey, the equalizer for Team White, with assists from James Wright and 2009 1st rounder Carter Ashton.

Ashton, Juraj Simek, Niklas Persson, Connolly, and Marc-Andre Pouliot all missed shootout attempts before former Bolt and training camp invitee Eric Perrin won the match for Team Black in the shootout. Mike Smith stopped 20 of 22 for Team White, while Dan Ellis stopped 18 of 20 for Team Black.

The Lightning's 2010 1st round pick Brett Connolly tallied a first period and a third period goal in a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in the opening game of the 2010 Traverse City prospects tournament Saturday night. Connolly's first period tally was assisted by 2009 1st round pick Carter Ashton, as he and Connolly combined for 10 of Tampa's 26 shots on goal. James Wright and Mark Barberio assisted on Connolly's 3rd period marker with Wright sporting a team high +2 along with 3 shots of his own. 2010 3rd rounder Brock Beukeboom was the only other Lightning plus player in the game.

Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 of 34 shots in the loss. Radko Gudas had a huge hit in the 3rd period, while Teigan Zahn dropped the gloves for a 1st period bout against Cody Beach. Of the free agent invitees, forward Andrew Agozzino rang up 3 shots on goal.

Boxscore provided by Pointstreak

The Lightning have assembled a preliminary roster for the upcoming prospects camp July 10-14 at the St. Pete Times Forum. The following roster, courtesy of Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune, includes at least three goaltenders, 12 defensemen and 17 forwards. All 2010 draft choices will be participating.

Name: Brandon Gormley
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Height: 6.02
Weight: 185
Born: 2/18/92, Murray River, PEI
Last Team: Moncton (QMJHL)
Rankings: CSS 6 (NA Skaters), ISS 5 (Skaters), RLR 5 (Overall), THN 7 (Overall)

2009-2010 Statistics:
Moncton (QMJHL), 58 GP, 9-34-43, +31, 54 PIM
Moncton (QMJHL) Playoffs, 21 GP, 2-5-17, +14, 10 PIM

If you’re looking for a sexy draft pick, you’re not going to find one in Moncton’s Brandon Gormley. If you’re looking for a solid two-way defenseman who is going to play 20+ minutes a night and have a 10-15 year NHL career, Gormley’s probably your man. Gormley’s positives are that he’s got a good sized frame, is a strong skater, passes the puck well, and he’s an extremely cerebral defender. A product of the same Notre Dame prep school that began the careers of Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, efficiency is the hallmark of Gormley's game. He is incredibly cool under pressure and has a propensity of using his positioning and mobility to win races for loose pucks and move them out of danger long before forecheckers arrive on the scene. The down side is that Gormley is lacking in upper body strength, as evidenced by his poor performance at the NHL Combine, which has been a contributing factor to accusations that he plays a bit soft. In addition, while Gormley has upside as a puck mover at even strength, there are some doubts that he will ever be a top flight power play quarterback in the NHL. The Lightning have no doubt seen plenty of Gormley, whose teammate at Moncton was none other than recently signed prospect Mark Barberio, so they likely know exactly what they’re getting if they select the PEI native. The question is how keen the Lightning will be to use a sixth overall pick on a player that doesn’t have the dynamic offensive upside of a future number one defenseman and who is a lefty shot and therefore likely will be relegated to the second power play unit by Victor Hedman. Will the Lightning be willing to select a quiet, solid, 30+ point a year, minute eating defenseman when there are dynamic scorers at the forward positions still sitting on the board? That’s a tough call to make for any scouting staff, even if it’s the right one.

Previous Prospect Profiles:
11 for 6: G, Jack Campbell
11 for 6: D, Cam Fowler
11 for 6: D, Erik Gudbranson