A couple of old friends find themselves on waivers this morning. The signing of Corey Perry made the Edmonton Oilers a little forward-heavy so they placed Adam Erne on waivers. The 28-year-old was drafted by the Lightning in the second round of the 2013 draft. He appeared in parts of three seasons with the Bolts before they traded him to Detroit for a 2020 fourth-round pick. The Bolts traded that pick for a fourth and fifth-round pick that they used to draft Eamon Powell and Jaydon Dureau. After a few seasons in Detroit, Erne joined the Oilers on a PTO this fall. He parlayed that into a contract and recorded a goal and an assist in 23 games.
Meanwhile, with Tanner Pearson set to return to the Montreal Canadians, they waived Mitchell Stephens. Like Erne, Stephens was a second round pick by the Bolts in 2015. Also like Erne he was traded to Detroit. Stephens went to the Red Wings in 2021 for a sixth-round pick in 2022. The Bolts used the pick and a fourth-round pick to move up to the third round so they could draft Lucas Edmonds.
Stephens spent one season with the Red Wings before signing with the Montreal Canadiens. He has spent most of his time with Laval, but did appear in 23 games with the Habs this year with 2 goals and 1 assist.
Of the two, Stephens is the most likely to be claimed (although both will probably clear). He’s a depth center with speed that can plug in on a team that needs bottom-six help.
Other Hockey News
ECHL Adirondack Thunder Hall of Fame Voting [Adirondack Thunder]
The Thunder are looking for help from fans to decide their next hall of fame class. Two names familiar to Lightning fans are on it. Assistant general manager/director of player development Stacy Roest and assistant general manager/director of player personnel Jamie Pushor are both finalists.
Local high school players get to play at Amalie [Lightning Twitter]
The Bolts hosted high school all-stars as part of the Lightning Hockey Development program. That’s got to be pretty exciting for the kids.
Crunch player of the week – Jack Finley [Syracuse Crunch Twitter]
The big center took home honors this week after notching three straight 1-goal, 1-assist games. He now has five multi-point games in his last seven to bring his season total to 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in 21 games. Could he be vying for the next call-up?
Sticks Together inspiring underserved kids around the globe [Color of Hockey]
Sarah Thompson is a forward with the University of Syracuse women’s hockey team. She was also an intern for the Syracuse Crunch. The 22-year-old created Sticks Together, a non-profit organization that “provides resources to give children in underprivileged communities around the world the chance to learn and play hockey.”
Celebrini the unanimous No. 1 prospect in McKenzie’s mid-season draft ranking [TSN]
The BobFather sees no reason why Macklin Celebrini won’t go number one in the draft this summer unless a team is already stacked on the offensive front (cough, Anaheim, cough). In that case they may turn to the defensemen McKenzie has listed at 2 (Anton Silayev) and 3 (Artyom Levshunov). It’s interesting to note that the top-five prospects on his list are playing in either the collegiate programs, the KHL, or the USHL. Cayden Lindstrom, who plays for Medicine Hat of the WHL, is the highest-ranked CHL player on the list. Players are starting to find non-traditional paths to the NHL.
Latest USCHO Rankings [USCHO]
Celebrini not only tops the prospect rankings, his team (Boston University) tops the latest college rankings. Lightning 2023 draft pick Jack Harvey is also on that team.
Two All-Star roster additions announced [NHL Public Relations]
With Connor Bedard and Jack Eichel not available for the all-star game next month, the league announced the first two replacements – Vincent Trochek (Rangers) and Kyle Connor (Jets) will be headed to Toronto for the festivities.
