If you wondered who was going to replace Sean Bergenheim on the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s third line, a candidate has been brought into the system that could challenge, or might simply flesh out the bottom six forwards.
Former Montreal Canadiens center Tom Pyatt, who has experience playing under Guy Boucher from the 2009-10 season with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, was inked by the Lightning today to a one-year, two-way contract.
Pyatt’s a defensive forward, though a little undersized (5’11”, 180 lbs). He saw consistent time on the Habs penalty kill last season (averaging 2:11 of tice-time on the PK per game). He becomes immediate competition to Blair Jones and Mattias Ritola for the role of 3rd line grinder/agitator, which Bergenheim had performed last season.
…Or he could be looked at as a replacement for Nate Thompson on the fourth line, with Nate moving up to 3rd line duties. Speculate as you please.
