The Tampa Bay Lightning’s active roster was reduced earlier today as the Bolts sent two players to the Syracuse CrunchL: Forward Tye McGinn and defenseman Nikita Nesterov.
Wait, wha…? Nesterov? That one seems a little odd with thanks to the fact this reduces the Lightning’s roster depth at the blue line to 6 players. No insurance on hand if someone gets hurt? It’s peculiar simply from how Jon Cooper’s Lightning has tended to carry 7 D.
The whispers about Matt Carle and his recent healthy scratching are a problem as well – if Carle is on the trade block, healthy scratches are not the way that the team will actually highlight the player or show him off. For the amount of money that Carle is paid as well ($5.5 million AAV) a healthy scratching is not a fiscally wise decision to begin with.
Nesterov’s appeared in 6 games for the Lightning, having earned no points. He’s a minus-1. He was also suspended two games. It had been between Nesterov and Andrej Sustr with 7th-defenseman duties – watching from the press box or playing as an extra defenseman in an 11 / 7 game roster split.
McGinn’s recall from Syracuse was based off of a lack of physical play as the Bolts lacked Cedric Paquette on the game night roster. He appeared in two games with Tampa Bay and earned no points in his time with the club, he was also even in the plus/minus category.
