News

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired forward Carter Verhaeghe from the New York Islanders in exchange for goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today.

Verhaeghe, 21, skated in 45 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League, recording 16 goals and 29 points with 20 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound forward ranked tied for third on the Sound Tigers for goals and tied for fifth for power-play goals with four. He set career highs for games played, goals, assists, points and power-play goals during the 2016-17 season. Verhaeghe also played in 16 games with the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL, collecting 12 goals and 32 points.

The Toronto, Ontario native has appeared in 77 career AHL over the past three seasons with the Sound Tigers and Toronto Marlies, collecting 22 goals and 45 points. Verhaeghe played four seasons with the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League prior to turning pro, recording 83 goals and 224 points in 262 career games.

Verhaeghe was originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round, 82nd overall, at the 2013 NHL Draft.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Oleg Sosunov to a three-year, entry-level contract, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today.

Sosunov,19, skated in 32 games with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, registering 79 penalty minutes last season. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound defenseman also appeared in eight games with the Lokomotiv junior team, recording 12 penalty minutes. Sosunov played in five postseason games with Lokomotiv Jr., registering three assists.

The Ryazan, Russia native has skated in 47 career games with Lokomotiv Jr. over two seasons, collecting four goals and 12 points. Sosunov has also appeared in 35 games with Lokomotiv over the past two seasons, including one playoff game in 2017.

Sosunov was originally selected by the Lightning in the sixth round, 178th overall, at the 2016 NHL Draft.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Alex Volkov to a three-year, entry-level contract, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today.

Volkov, 19, skated in 16 games with SKA St. Petersburg in the MHL, the Russia Junior League, last season, posting six goals and 11 points to go along with 12 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-1, 191-pound forward also appeared in 15 games with Neva St. Petersburg, scoring three goals and four penalty minutes.

The Moscow, Russia native has played in 128 career games with SKA St. Petersburg over four seasons, registering 33 goals and 61 points to go along with 88 penalty minutes. During the 2014-15 season, he helped his club win their first ever Kharlamov Cup, posting a goal and two points during the playoffs.

Volkov was selected in the second round, 48th overall, at the 2017 NHL Draft. He’s currently attending the Lightning’s development camp at the Ice Sports Forum, which will be held through Saturday, July 1.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed forward Gabriel Dumont to a two-year contract worth $650,000 AAV, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today. The first year of the contract is one-way, while the second year is a two-way.

Dumont, 26, skated in 39 games with the Lightning during the 2016-17 season, posting two goals and four points to go along with 29 penalty minutes. He scored his first goal as a Bolt on February 7 against the Los Angeles Kings. The Ville Degelis, Quebec native has skated in 57 career NHL games with Tampa Bay and the Montreal Canadiens, notching three goals and seven points.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound forward also appeared in 20 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, recording five goals and 10 points to go along with 24 penalty minutes. Dumont skated in 22 playoff games with the Crunch, registering five goals and 11 points, helping guide Syracuse to the Calder Cup Final. He has played in 409 career AHL games over seven seasons, notching 97 goals and 213 points to go along with 516 penalty minutes.

Dumont was signed as a free agent by the Lightning on July 1, 2016.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed forward Cory Conacher to a two-year contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced. The deal is one-way during the first season and two-way during the second, paying $650,000 per season at the NHL level.

Conacher, 5-foot-8, 180 pounds, skated in 11 games with the Lightning last season, recording a goal and four points. He also skated in 56 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, notching 17 goals and 60 points. Conacher ranked eighth in the AHL for assists and tied for eighth for points. He was tied for the team lead for points, second for assist and third for goals. Conacher played in 22 games in helping the Crunch to the Calder Cup Finals in 2017. He paced Syracuse with 12 goals, four power-play goals and 28 points during the postseason. Conacher also led the Calder Cup Playoffs for goals and points.

The Burlington, Ontario native has skated in 152 career NHL games with Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Buffalo and the New York Islanders since making his NHL debut in 2012, posting 20 goals and 62 points to go along with 88 penalty minutes.

The 27-year old has appeared in 222 career American Hockey League games, recording 84 goals and 213 points. In 2011-12, Conacher led the Lightning’s then-top affiliate Norfolk Admirals to a Calder Cup Championship and was awarded the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s regular season MVP after registering 39 goals, 14 power-play goals and 80 points.

Conacher went undrafted out of Canisius College and originally signed as a free agent with the Bolts on March 3, 2012.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have issued qualifying offers to nine players today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Below is the list of players receiving qualifying offers:

Pos. Player
F Michael Bournival
D Jake Dotchin
G Kristers Gudlevskis
F Tyler Johnson
D Slater Koekkoek
F Tye McGinn
F Ondrej Palat
F Matthew Peca
F Tanner Richard

The deadline for NHL clubs to issue offers is at 5 p.m. today. By issuing qualifying offers to the aforementioned players, the Lightning are given the right of first refusal or draft choice compensation should the player sign an offer sheet with another NHL club.

Players not being qualified are Dylan Blujus, Jonathan Racine and Henri Ikonen.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed forward Yanni Gourde to a two-year, one-way contract worth $1-million per season, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today.

Gourde, 25, skated in 20 games with the Lightning during the 2016-17 season, posting six goals and eight points to go along with eight penalty minutes. The 5-foot-9, 172-pound forward scored his first career NHL goal on March 11 against the Florida Panthers. Gourde also scored in three consecutive games from March 27 through April 1. He finished the season posting five goals over his past eight games. He’s appeared in 22 career NHL games, all with the Bolts over the past two seasons, collecting six goals and nine points.

The Narcisse, Quebec native also played in 56 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, registering 22 goals and 48 points to go along with 54 penalty minutes. Gourde ranked second on the Crunch for goals and third for points. He also ranked tied for first in the AHL last season with four shorthanded goals. During Syracuse’s Calder Cup Playoff run, Gourde posted nine goals and 27 points in 22 games. He ranked first for playoff assists and was second behind teammate Cory Conacher for points.

Gourde went undrafted and originally agreed to terms with the Lightning on March 9, 2014.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed defenseman Andrej Sustr to a one-year, $1.95 million contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Sustr, 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, appeared in 80 games with the Lightning in 2016-17, recording three goals and 14 points. He was tied for the team lead among defensemen for games played (Coburn, 80), while also ranking third among Bolts blue-liners for points and tied for third for assists. Sustr was the only Tampa Bay defenseman outside of Victor Hedman to score a game-winning goal in 2016-17.

The Plzen, Czech Republic native also played in six games for Team Czech Republic at the 2016 World Cup, netting one goal. Sustr was one of two Czech defensemen to record a goal in three tournament games.

Sustr, 26, has played in 274 career NHL games, all with the Lightning during the previous five seasons. During that time, he has recorded eight goals and 56 points with a plus-2 rating, two game-winning goals and one power-play goal. Sustr has also played in 46 career Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Bolts, recording two goals and five points with a plus-8 rating.

The Lightning signed Sustr as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha on March 21, 2013.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional second round 2018 draft selection from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Jonathan Drouin and a conditional 2018 sixth round pick, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today.

Sergachev, 18, skated in four games with the Canadiens this season, recording a plus-1 rating. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound defenseman made his NHL debut last season on October 13 against the Buffalo Sabres. He also played in 50 games with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League, posting 10 goals and 43 points. Sergachev led all Spitfire defensemen for assists (33), points, power-play assists (10) and penalty minutes (71).

The Nizhnekamsk, Russia native recently won the 2017 Memorial Cup as a member of the Spitfires. Sergachev posted a goal and four points in four games during the Memorial Cup tournament. He also notched a goal and three assists in seven OHL playoff games. Sergachev has played in 117 games during two OHL seasons, both with Windsor, registering 27 goals and 100 points.

Sergachev was originally selected by Montreal in the first round, ninth overall, at the 2016 NHL Draft.

Crunchning Death Star runs aground in Grand Rapids.

SYR-3
GR-4

Grand Rapids Wins the Series 4-2

Mike McKenna allowed 4 goals on 26 shots for the loss.

First Period
14:09 SYR Gourde (8), (Conacher)

Second Period
0:18 GR Ford (8), (Nosek)(PP)
7:51 SYR Taormina (5), (Bournival, Lynch)
11:50 GR Callahan (6), (Street)
18:10 SYR Gourde (9), (Masin, Taormina)

Third Period
3:50 GR Bertuzzi (9), (Frk, Nosek)
12:41 GR Frk (5), (Lashoff, Nosek)

Yanni Gourde was the game's third star.

It's a painful way for the season to end. The Crunch were 20 minutes away from forcing a somewhat improbable Game Seven encounter before the wheels finally came off. It's been a special team and a special, likely one-off, moment in time for Syracuse. The Crunch are likely to have a youth movement next season, particularly at forward. This veteran laden team will likely move along to the NHL, in a few cases, or to other teams/leagues in quite a few others. The big upside of this run for the Tampa Bay Lightning? In my opinion, it's a lot of quality minutes in pressure situations played by defenseman prospects like Slater Koekkoek, Jake Dotchin, Dominik Masin, and Ben Thomas.

Box score from TheAHL.com.