Before their Thursday night 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals, the Tampa Bay Lightning made a few personnel changes. First, they brought Syracuse Crunch forward Cole Koepke back. They then put Alex Barré-Boulet on waivers later in the day with the intention of loaning him to their AHL affiliate.
This is Koepke’s second stint with the Lightning for the current campaign. In 17 games during his 2022–23 NHL debut, he scored one goal. Before being moved to the Crunch, he played in eight games this season after being called up in November and contributing two assists. He has made 36 appearances for Syracuse this season, tallying 13 goals and 11 assists. He has been one of their more effective players lately, scoring five goals in his previous five games, including three in a row.
Coach Cooper was clearly trying to ignite something among the bottom six forwards based on the manner he had been rotating Austin Watson and Alex Barré-Boulet lately. On Thursday, Koepke was in the lineup and in 5:58 of ice time, he scored twice at 5v5. His line, which included Tyler Motte and Luke Glendening, produced one scoring opportunity and four shot attempts. Additionally, they played one goal and one goal against.
He is a swift skater who should be able to contribute some offensive play by successfully forechecking. It’s certain that he has no fear when it comes to shooting the puck. In just 36 games while in Syracuse, he had 110 shots. With 113, only Jack Thompson had more, and it took him 45 games to reach that total.
Koepke might not be here for very long. Tanner Jeannot will travel with the squad, however it is not yet clear what condition he is in. Jeannot might be sitting out till the Bolts get back home, or he might play.
Conversely, as the season has gone on, Barré-Boulet’s playing time has decreased. Recently, Mitchell Chaffee’s rise to prominence made it seem as though ABB had lost a spot in the starting lineup. It goes without saying that the Lightning hope he clears waivers so he can support the Crunch in their own postseason run. He recorded career highs of six goals and three helpers in 36 games with the Lightning.
We are aware of his AHL scoring ability. He needed 271 games to reach the record of 283 points, which is the Crunch’s all-time franchise leader in scoring. In addition, he leads them in assists (174) and goals (109). It will take him some time to catch up to Jeremy Reich, who has 820 penalty minutes, while he just has 130.
Barré-Boulet might not be able to travel to Syracuse. Even though he hasn’t settled into a regular role in Tampa, a team trying to add to their scoring depth and who has playing time on the top six could consider him as a fairly priced scoring option. The 26-year-old would probably like to stay in the NHL to strengthen his position when he becomes a free agency this summer.
Barré-Boulet’s ability to score goals has allowed him to compete at the NHL level. He spent the most of his playing time on the fourth line since the Lightning just didn’t have a spot for him on a regular basis. Simply put, his game isn’t appropriate for that role. Despite his best efforts to adjust, he is not going to continue playing defensive hockey. Playmaking and offense are his strongest suits.
Since yesterday, he was placed on waivers, therefore the 24-hour period will end at 2:00 pm EST. It will be known by then if he has been claimed by a team. In case Barré-Boulet fails to clear, the Crunch also recalled Bennett MacArthur from the ECHL’s Allen Americans.
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