After watching the Chicago Blackhawks help kickstart the 2025 Trade Season, the Tampa Bay Lightning opened a mini-version as they swapped AHL forwards with the New York Rangers. The Lightning sent winger Lucas Edmonds to the New York organization in exchange for forward Ryder Korczak.
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Korczak is a 22-year-old, right-handed center that was drafted in the third round of the 2021 draft. He’s spent the last few seasons with Hartford at the AHL level where he has 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 107 games. Prior to that he had played for the Calgary Hitmen and Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL where he had 246 points (82 goals, 164 assists) in 248 games.
It appears, based on all of his scouting reports, that Korczak has a lot of tools that make for a successful hockey player. In his draft year, he was praised for his deceptiveness with the puck and vision on the ice. He’s not the biggest player on the ice (listed at 5’10”, 176 lb.) but, as Elite Prospects J.D. Burke put it, “applies pressure on the forecheck, [and] players honest hockey in his own end”.
The knock on him so far is that he hasn’t been able to translate his offensive skills to the pro level as of yet. There was a bump in his development in 2022-23 when he was set to play with Hartford, but was returned to Moose Jaw for the majority of the season. From most of the reports of him as a young forward in the AHL, he just hasn’t been able to match the intensity and consistency that he displayed in junior hockey. Perhaps a change of scenery and a new system will unlock his offensive skills.
Much of the same can be said for Lucas Edmonds. A forward who was ranked 14th in our most recent Top 25 Under 25, there were nights that Edmonds looked bound for the NHL (especially against Utica). Unfortunately, there were too many nights where you had to check the scoresheet to make sure he was in the line-up.
To a degree, injuries limited Edmonds growth in the organization as the 2022 third-round pick has yet to crack the 50-games played mark for Syracuse. Drafted as an overager, Edmonds came to the organization following a dynamite season with the Kingston Frontenacs where he put up 113 points (34 goals, 79 assists) in 68 games. Part of that success came from the fact that he had been playing in Europe in Sweden’s second-highest professional league, HockeyAllsvenskan, with Kristianstads IK where he had three assists in 22 games.
There was some hope that his professional experience would help accelerate his journey to the NHL, but after a strong rookie season where he had 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists) in 49 games, his play seemed to stagnate a little. Other prospects have since moved past him on the depth chart, and it seems that the Lightning organization felt it was time to give the pending restricted free agent a chance with another organization.
Both players are expected to report to their AHL teams.
