It’s time to play a little catch-up with some of the news that fell through the cracks over the last few weeks as we focused on the NHL draft and free agency. Down on the farm, there have been some major changes with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. There is a new boss (who is literally the same as the old boss), an old friend returns, and they made some small additions on AHL-only contracts.
The Crunch are coming off another season that had some success, but didn’t end the way they really wanted it to. After a spotty (and injury-riddled) start the season, they caught fire down the stretch and made it to the playoffs as they finished as the third seed in the North Division. Unfortunately, their offense abandoned them as they scored only two goals in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rochester Americans. The struggle to score was a season-long epidemic and it cost them a long playoff run.
The man chosen to turn the ship around as the new general manager is the man who had the best seat in the house last season – Joel Bouchard. That’s right, the head coach is going to do double-duty as he assumes the GM duties along with his coaching responsibilities. This isn’t the first time Bouchard has worn multiple hats for an organization. During his days with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL he held both job titles, with the Armada making it to the President Cup Finals in 2017 and 2018 under his direction.
In this day-and-age it’s tough to both manage a professional team and handle the day-to-day coaching aspect of the very same team, especially in a league where the development of players is vital to the success of the organization (and it’s NHL affiliate). Expect Julien BriseBois to play a hand in helping Bouchard run the team, as will the organization’s newest hire – Jeff Tambellini.
The former Los Angeles Kings first-round draft pick is another familiar name to Lightning and Crunch fans. He finished his AHL career with Syracuse, putting up 29 goals and 20 assists in 65 games during the 2015-16 season. He would rejoin the organization a few seasons later as part of the college free agent scouting staff, helping to build the depth that would lead the Lightning to their back-to-back Stanley Cups.
His success allowed him to join the Seattle Kraken as their Director of Player Development. Now he’s back at the Lightning’s Assistant General Manager, Director of Hockey Operations. He’ll also serve as Assistant General Manager of the Syracuse Crunch where he’s reunited with his former Bridgeport Sound Tigers teammate, Joel Bouchard.
Bouchard and Tambellini need players to generally manage, so the organization helped them out by making a couple of AHL-contract deals.
Tommy Miller – Defenseman
The draining of the Marlies roster continued as he joins Nick Abruzzese in coming across the border. Undrafted out of Michigan State, Miller is a solid defensive defenseman who will compete for a spot on a crowded right side of the Crunch blueline.
Brendan Furry – Forward
Another undrafted NCAA product, Furry is a solid (6’1″, 198 lbs.) left-shot winger coming off of his best professional season as he put up 10 goals for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season.
Matteo Pietroniro – Defense
The 26-year-old defenseman has had a circular path to the Syracuse Crunch. The Idaho-native started in the QMJHL, then went to the USHL, and Europe before signing with the Toronto Marlies a couple of years ago. Much like Miller, he played for Toronto last season before being traded for future considerations to Rockford.
All three of these players will likely see time in Syracuse and Orlando. Even with the veterans that have left the organization, there will be a lot of bodies in training camp this fall.
Speaking of the fall, the Syracuse Crunch released their schedule for the season.
