A day after the Tampa Bay Lightning reassigned Cole Koepke to the Syracuse Crunch, they called up two players from their AHL affiliate. Defenseman Philippe Myers has been recalled for the second time this season. For forward Mitchell Chaffee, it will be his first time being promoted to the Lightning. The two make a cross-country flight to join a Lightning team that is battling a bit of an illness right now.
Myers appeared in one game for the Lightning so far this season, playing 15:32 with 2 shots in the Lightning’s 5-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on November 14th. With Victor Hedman leaving the Lightning’s last game (an overtime win against Seattle) Myers is likely here for precautionary purposes if the Big Swede can’t go and Coach Cooper wants to go with seven defensemen.
For Chaffee, the promotion is not only to help out the team in case the flu bug has taken out more than Steven Stamkos, who missed the game in Seattle, but also a reward for a great start to his season in Syracuse. The Lightning took a bit of a gamble on signing the 25-year-old forward this summer as Chaffee was coming off major knee surgery.The risk paid off as Chaffee has put up 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games with Syracuse. Over the last six games he’s scored five times and added two assists.
If he does make it into the game, the Michigan native will be making his Lightning debut. The Wild had signed him as a college free agent in March of 2020 after he put up 95 points (47 goals, 48 assists) in 108 games with the University of Massachusetts.
