The reinforcements are arriving for the Tampa Bay Lightning blueline. With injuries to Haydn Fleury, Erik Cernak, and Mihail Sergachev, the team recalled defensemen Sean Day and Declan Carlilie from the Syracuse Crunch. In order to do so, it appears Sergachev was added to long-term injured reserve, freeing up the cap space to make the recalls. Sergy will be eligible to return to the line-up January 13th.
Day has been on this shuttle already this season, having been recalled when Sergachev was originally injured blocking a shot from Colton Parayko. For Carlile it will be the first recall for the 23-year-old defenseman. In Syracuse he’s put up 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 31 games.
Hardev had a nice write-up about Carlile’s game in his Top 25 Under 25 post (Declan ranked 11th). If he does draw into a game, it’ll be interesting to see how he handled the increased speed of the game. In Syracuse he’s been solid on the blueline, and one of their top defenders with all of the changes they’ve been going through.
Over the last two weeks the Bolts have recalled Philippe Myers, Day, and Carlile, three starters from the Crunch’s blueline. In response they recalled Zachary Massicotte from Orlando and signed Ben Harpur to a PTO.
After playing with just five defensemen in a loss to Winnipeg, the Lightning should at least be able to field a full roster. As for who is going to get the call, we’ll have to wait and see.
