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Good, no-- great, news out of Tampa Bay on Wednesday afternoon? Prized goaltending prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy, out of action since early September with a blood clot near his collarbone, has been cleared by doctors to resume hockey activities for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Although the Tampa Bay crease currently (and probably still will) belongs to Ben Bishop in the now, the loss of the 21-year-old Vasilevskiy has loomed over the Bolts since the day he was ruled out.
First, the club brought in veteran Ray Emery on a professional tryout. That was a complete dud. It ultimately ended with the Lightning releasing the 33-year-old following a disastrous 30-of-36 mark and 0-1-0 record in just two preseason contests with the Blue and White.
Then came the waiver claim of former New York Islanders goaltending prospect Kevin Poulin.
Poulin, a former fifth-round pick of the Isles (126th overall in 2008), came to Tampa Bay with a little bit of experience at the NHL level, including 18 wins and an .899 save percentage in 50 games played. But not enough to warrant any confidence in giving him the blue for any prolonged stretches.
In fact, the Bolts haven’t tried Poulin out at all in 2015-16, as Bishop has appeared in every single minute of the Lightning’s season seven games in. It hasn’t been a nightmare for Bishop, either, as he’s earned wins in four of those seven games, and posted a .905 save percentage over that stretch.
In essence, it’s clear that Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is doing and has done his absolute best to keep Poulin out of the crease ‘til Vasilevskiy’s ready to return to the NHL.
The 6-foot-3 Vasilevskiy put up solid numbers for a first-year goaltender last year, too, with seven wins and a .918 save percentage in 13 starts. He also went on to appear in four postseason contests for the Lightning last spring, including two Stanley Cup Final games, posting an .895 save percentage.
If everything goes to plan, Vasilevskiy could be practicing with the club within the week.
That’s great news for a Tampa squad whose November schedule includes battles with seven playoff teams from a year ago, and numerous sets of three games in five nights stretches.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.