It is likely that Fortier will clear waivers and be assigned to Syracuse. If he’s ready to go, the Crunch will get an important depth forward back as they battle for early-season positioning in the AHL North. Currently, the Crunch are third with 8 points, trailing the Marlies (13 points) and Rocket (10 points). While he isn’t the most prolific scorer, he should still help a Crunch offense that has scored just 18 goals through 7 games (17th in the league).
Fortier has to be champing at the bit to get his season going. After four full seasons with the Crunch, this is a big year for him. In 235 career games in the AHL he has an even 100 points (44 goals, 56 assists) and has consistently provided 26-30 points. He has to show the Lightning that he can take the next step in order to make it to the NHL.
The Crunch are slowly getting healthy. Logan Brown returned over the weekend and now Fortier should be on the ice fairly soon. It will be a few more weeks before Gabriel Dumont and Daniel Walcott back, but it’s nice to see some experienced players added to the line-up among a lot of youngsters.