Raw Charge
Summary
It’s been a hot minute since the Tampa Bay Lightning released a new jersey. Excluding the one-off for the Stadium Series game last season, the last time they wore a new sweater was in 2024 when they released their new black alternate uniforms. That’s about to change. Along with the other 31 teams in the league, the Bolts are set to debut their Hometown Remix jersey at some point soon. On Wednesday, they teased their collaboration with Fanatics, the official provider of the NHL’s uniforms. View this post on Instagram Do you think it took long for someone to decode the message? Of course not. According to the comments, the phrase is “Anchored in the bay” All it took was a simple Caesar Cipher crack the mystery. What is a Caesar Cipher you ask? Used by Julius Caesar in his private communications, it’s a substitution cipher where letters are replaced by a fixed number of positions in the alphabet. In this case it’s left one. So “B” is code for “A”, “O” for “N”, so forth and so on. Another touch astute viewers picked up on was the design along the edge. The lighter marks replicate the balustrades that run along Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa while the colors echo the seafoam blue theme from the Stadium Series sweaters last season. View this post on Instagram So, we’re thinking something nautical. Pirate-themed? Maybe. We’re all still going to have to stay tuned. Dylan Larkin has reportedly expanded his trade list to ten teams (finally). Guess who is among those lucky teams. That’s right, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Why not add another left-hand center to the rotation, eh? There would have to be some financial gymnastics in order to add him under the current salary cap, but Julien BriseBois has never let that stop him before. The bigger obstacle would be the Lightning being able to match or exceed what some of the other teams on the list can offer. [ Detroit Free Press ] If you’ve been around long enough, you might remember when the Lightning had a rewards program. Basically, you scanned a card every time you went to a game and the team would give away items. There may or may not be a stash of Lightning pucks in our closet that were part of that program from over 20 years ago. Well, the team is partnering with Uptop to create a new loyalty program called Bolts Rewards. Sign up, link a credit/debit card, spend money earn points. Simple. [ Tampa Bay Lightning ] After scoring his first goal over the weekend, Sam O’Reilly decided he liked it so much he did it again Wednesday night. The Lightning prospected tipped home a shot from Brendan Furry for the second goal of his career. Unfortunately, that was the only goal a member of the Crunch scored and they dropped the contest to the Laval Rocket, 5-1. Mads Sogaard was in net for the loss, stopping 32-of-36 shots. The Crunch have the day off before hosting the Rochester Americans on Friday. [ Syracuse Crunch ] Hockey News Back at the 2025 NHL deadline, the Minnesota Wild decided they needed to add some ruggedness to their line-up so they made a trade with the Boston Bruins for Justin Brazeau. In return, they sent the Bruins a 2026 sixth-round pick and Marat Khusnutdinov, a former second-round pick. Brazeau didn’t really make a difference, meanwhile Khusnutdinov has thrived in Beantown recording 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists) in 105 games while playing a depth role for them. They rewarded the 24-year-old with some stability, signing him to a three-year deal with an AAV of $3.95 million. Not a bad bit of business. [ Boston Bruins ] It’s never too early to start thinking about trades, right? With most teams over the ten-game mark, some general managers are starting to figure out their weaknesses while others are already thinking about the future. Topping The Athletic’s list are a few players currently on the outs with their teams. The Lightning probably don’t need a goalie, but what about a couple of youngish defensemen? [ The Athletic ] Speaking of goaltenders, is there a bit of a controversy brewing in Montreal? Jakub Dobes took a penalty in overtime that led to Macklin Celebrini’s game-winning goal as the young netminder’s rough start to the season continues. With Jacob Fowler playing well in his starts and Sam Montembeault set to return from his injury soon, the crease is going to be quite crowded pretty soon. [ A Winning Habit ]