The tale in-the-crease continues to play out this weekend. We already touched on the fact it looked like Ben Bishop may be tabbed to start both the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks games.
Things changed as the evening progressed: Allen York was recalled from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL to serve as the backup to Adam Wilcox in Syracuse. Kristers Gudlevskis was nowhere in sight as of game time in Syracuse. This morning it became official that Gudlevskis had been recalled by the Lightning from the Crunch. It’s already known that Andrei Vasilevskiy will resume practice this coming week; a reassignment to the Syracuse Crunch seems like an inevitability that’ll play out in the coming hours or days (for the sake of practice and getting into game shape), at least that was the thought put in with reports of Vasy’s all-clear had suggested as much.
What about Kevin Poulin? Poulin had been on the Lightning roster since preseason after being claimed from the New York Islanders. This afternoon, wide reports have come through social media and have been confirmed by local press that Poulin is now on waivers. It should be noted that, due to waiver rules and regulations, the Isles have the right to first refusal on Poulin; he could be claimed by the club before weight of standing is factored in. As of this writing there’s been nothing on that which this writer has seen or heard.
If Poulin passes through waivers, he could be reassigned to Syracuse or loaned to another AHL club among other options. Poulin saw no minutes of ice-time with the Lightning during the regular season. He only had preseason time in the crease with the club.
It would be an interesting glut created by Poulin in the AHL – Adam Wilcox has been Gudlevskis partner in the crease; he’s played 2 games, posting a 3.50 GAA and a .891 GAA in his first professional season. If Poulin is reassigned to Syracuse and Vasilevskiy (or Gudlevskis for that matter) then Wilcox becomes a displaced figure. The Lightning already has an ECHL loan deal, as previously mentioned, with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits for Allen York. Wilcox could be the one loaned to another AHL or ECHL squad.
