The Tampa Bay Lightning announced earlier today that they have assigned forward Jonathan Drouin to the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League for a conditioning assignment. The 2013 third overall pick fractured his thumb early in the Lightning’s training camp, which has kept him out of action since mid-September.
Because of his age and junior eligibility, Drouin would not be allowed to suit up in the AHL under normal circumstances. This two-week conditioning assignment is an exception to the rule, and it could be great for the Bolts and Drouin.
Given that he’s missed a significant amount of time with the fractured thumb, Drouin is looking at this stint with Syracuse as his own personal training camp and preseason. As per Michelle Gingras, he expects to play tomorrow:
Drouin expects to play tomorrow in Syracuse, said thumb is healed. Stint is about getting timing back and game experience #TBLightning
— Michelle Gingras (@michellegingras) October 16, 2014VIDEO: Hear from Drouin and Assistant GM Julien BriseBois on rehab reassignment with @SyracuseCrunch #TBLightning http://t.co/bgsVFe4yVd
— Michelle Gingras (@michellegingras) October 16, 2014The bottom line here is that Jonathan Drouin is getting closer to making his NHL debut. Getting into game action in the AHL is just the next step on his road to that goal.
As always, thanks for reading.