Conor Sheary’s latest stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning lasted all of 12:18. On Sunday, the Lightning announced that the veteran had been re-assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. Sheary suited up for the Lightning’s 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, but he failed to record a point.
While there were no points on Sheary’s stat sheet, he did create a couple of scoring chances, and posted a 0.44 iXG, the best number he has posted in his four games with the Lightning all season. He spent the majority of the night (6:34) on a line with Zemgus Girgensons and Mikey Eyssimont, a trio that ended up on the positive side of shot attempts (63.64%) and scoring chances (66.67%).
It was a solid game for Sheary, something that he hasn’t had too often with the Lightning, but with the team going on a break, and the fact that he was still in his waivers-exempt period, the team sent him back to Syracuse. It’s not great for him, but it is a sign that at least one, if not more, of the injured players might be ready to return.
Mitchell Chaffee and Nick Paul were on the ice for the optional morning skate prior to the game against Toronto, and though they did not make it into the line-up, chances are they will be ready to go by the time the Lightning do take to the ice on Thursday against San Jose. The status of Nikita Kucherov, who also missed the game, is still murky.
Every team goes through a run of injuries like this at some point in the season, but the Lightning’s depth is really being tested at this point. They eked out and overtime win against Nashville despite playing with just 10 forwards at points of the game, but against Toronto, their lack of depth showed as they chased the deeper Leafs team for most of the night.
Another benefit of sending Sheary down now, even if they recall him later, is that they accumulate a few more dollars toward the salary cap. With the cap calculated on a daily basis, each dollar they are below it now, helps them out the closer they get to the trade deadline. PuckPedia’s calculation currently has them being able to afford a player with a $4,721,305 cap hit at the deadline. The more they stay under the number, the greater the size of the contract they can afford if Mr. BriseBois wants to make a move (which he usually does) for a middle-six forward.
There should be more information on the health of the injured forwards as the week progresses, and that will determine if Sheary (or another forward) is recalled prior to the Bolts heading out west. Stay tuned for any updates.
