tbl-Lightning Sign Forward To Pto

Summary

As the NHL enters its new bargaining agreement with the players, there was some question in regards to how many teams would be utilizing player try-out contracts in the now shortened preseason. With fewer days and games to evaluate talent, having non-contracted players in camp could be seen as a hindrance. For the Tampa Bay Lightning, that doesn’t seem to be the case as they announced that they had signed 27-year-old forward Kole Lind to a PTO on Friday. The Saskatchewan native was a second-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in 2017 who played his junior hockey in Kelowna. After a couple of solid seasons in Utica (61 points in 112 games) he made his NHL debut in 2020-21, appearing in seven games for the Canucks. Following that, he was selected by Seattle in their expansion draft and split time between the Kraken and AHL Charlotte Checkers. To date, the 2021-22 season is his best at the NHL level where he appeared in 23 games, recording 2 goals and 6 assists. Since then he’s spent his time in the AHL, not having appeared in the top league since a one-game cameo in the 2023-24 season. Lind has spent the last two seasons with the Texas Stars, where he’s scored 34 goals and added 53 assists in 141 games while racking up 188 penalty minutes. Is the 6’1, 192 lbs. right-shot forward going to crack the Tampa Bay Lightning roster? Probably not. In essence, the Lightning are getting a free look at someone who could be a depth forward in the organization should he choose to sign a two-way contract or AHL-deal with Syracuse. He does have some offensive skill at that level and is a solid forechecker and defender. One thing to note, with the bulk of the Lighting’s prospects participating in either college programs or in Europe, their training camp probably won’t be as crowded as some other organizations, so they have some time and space to try out an extra player or two. It’s also good to have plenty of players in camp just in case one of the regulars comes in not quite ready to go for the start of training camp. There hasn’t been any direct communication that any one on the roster is still recovering from an injury, but with as tight of a ship that the Bolts run, it wouldn’t be unusual to receive that news until camp actually opens.