Boris Katchouk is back in the Tampa Bay Lightning system. After heading to Chicago as part of the Brandon Hagel deal, the Lightning’s 2016 second-round pick is finally home again. The Lightning announced that they signed the 27-year-old forward to a one-year, two-way contract on Tuesday.
The left-shot forward never really found a role on the rebuilding Blackhawks squad and was claimed off of waivers in the 2023-24 by the Ottawa Senators. He ended up playing all of the 2024-25 season at the AHL level with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins where he appeared in 67 games and put up 21 goals with 28 assists.
Chances are he’ll spend the majority of this season with the Crunch as well, potentially replacing some of the offense lost with Conor Sheary leaving the organization. Katchouk is a solid all-around player who doesn’t really excel at any one thing in the game, but does everything pretty well.
He appeared in 38 games for the Lightning in 2021-22, posting 2 goals and 4 assists. He’s not likely to get that much playing time with them this season, but if injuries take out a few forwards at the same time he’ll be in line for a call-up.
The Lightning’s full press release:
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Boris Katchouk to a one-year, two-way contract today, Vice President and General Manager Julien BriseBois announced.
Katchouk, 6-foot-2, 206 pounds, played in 67 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last season, recording 21 goals and 49 points. He led the Penguins for games played, was second for points and was tied for third for both goals and power play goals. Katchouk also skated in two Calder Cup Playoff games and registered an assist.
The Vancouver, British Columbia native has skated in 176 career NHL games with the Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators. Katchouk has accumulated 15 goals and 36 points while averaging 11:09 in ice time per game. He played in 38 games with Tampa Bay during the 2021-22 season, when he scored two goals and added four assists. Katchouk was traded to Chicago, along with Taylor Raddysh and two conditional first-round picks, in exchange for Brandon Hagel and a fourth-round pick on March 18, 2022.
Katchouk has also appeared in 240 American Hockey League games with the Syracuse Crunch, Rockford IceHogs and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording 60 goals and 144 points. He has also played in six career AHL playoff games.
The 27-year-old was drafted by the Lightning in the second round, 44th overall, of the 2016 NHL Draft.
