Tampa Bay Lightning trade goaltender Louis Domingue to New Jersey Devils

When the Syracuse Crunch took to the ice at the War Memorial to warmup against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday night, goaltender Louis Domingue was missing from the ice.

Just before puck drop, the reason why was revealed.

Domingue was dealt to the New Jersey Devils for a conditional seventh round draft selection in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Per the Lightning press release:

The Lightning will receive New Jersey’s own 7th round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft if any one of the following conditions is met:

1. Domingue plays in seven NHL regular season games for the New Jersey Devils during the 2019-2020 regular season; or
2. Domingue plays in one NHL playoff game for the New Jersey Devils during the 2020 NHL playoffs; or
3. Domingue is traded by the New Jersey Devils prior to the start of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Since Curtis McElhinney was signed to back up Andrei Vasilevskiy during the offseason, Domingue had become the odd man out, despite a solid 2018-2019 season as the #2 goaltender. In 26 appearances, he posted a 21-5-0 mark with a 2.88 GAA and .908 save percentage. After the Lightning had tried to deal him during the preseason, and after no team had claimed him on waivers, he was subsequently sent to Syracuse to start the season, as his future with the organization seemed to hang in the balance.

While with the Crunch this season, Domingue appeared in 4 games, posting a 2-1-1 record with a 3.81 GAA and a .863 save percentage.

He will be directly reporting to the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Binghamton to serve as the #3 goaltender on New Jersey’s depth chart.

For the Lightning organization, this resolves the logjam in net and makes Scott Wedgewood the clear starter in Syracuse. For Domingue, this gives him a chance to be the starter in the AHL with a better chance to get back to the NHL. When the Lightning originally acquired him, he went on a tear in Syracuse, eventually got recalled to the Lightning, and remained the backup for more than a full season. He’ll be looking to replicate that in his move to New Jersey.