Being sent from the NHL to the AHL can be tough for any player. For Conor Geekie, that moment came in October, when the Tampa Bay Lightning assigned him to the Syracuse Crunch.
After spending most of last season in Tampa Bay, it wasn’t the outcome Geekie had hoped for. He went into training camp determined to stay with the Lightning for the full season. Once the decision was made, he started to see the bigger picture.
“It sucks when it happens, but I just tried to take the opportunity and run with it,” Geekie said. “The first couple games after I got down there, I was playing 24–25 minutes. I was like, wow I love this.”
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois believed the 21-year-old needed more opportunities with the puck on his stick. Ultimately, the decision was made with Geekie’s development in mind.
“The whole decision on Conor Geekie was what’s best for him long term,” BriseBois said in January. “Because whatever’s best for Conor Geekie long term is what’s best for our organization.”
In Syracuse, Geekie has taken on a bigger role, getting time on special teams and logging heavy minutes at five-on-five. In Tampa Bay, he averaged less than 10 minutes a night and rarely saw time on the power play or penalty kill.
© Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images“He has the puck a lot, and that’s the best course of action for him to realize his potential and be the best player possible for us when he comes back, so he can play the biggest role possible for us,” said BriseBois.
Last summer, Geekie trained in Toronto and Tampa with Lightning skating coach Barb Underhill and Director of Skill Development Randi Milani, admitting he spends a lot of time with both of them. That work has continued while he’s in Syracuse.
“I think the whole experience has helped me a ton,” Geekie said. “It helped me mature. The group of guys there are so fun, it makes it exciting to come to the rink. Having Joel Bouchard there to guide my eye to certain things, and let me know what I can do to be better, it’s helped a lot.”
Bouchard, the Crunch’s head coach, has been a key part of Geekie’s growth during his time in the AHL.
“He can be hard-nosed or he can be the fun guy in the room, but I think he’s just so personable,” said Geekie. “It makes it so much easier when it comes to certain things, he’s always going to give you that time. He takes time out of his day to get to know you and I think it helps our team a lot.”
One of the first things Geekie did after returning to Tampa last week was soak up the warm weather. He spent time catching up with his Lightning teammates and their families, noting just how much some of the players’ kids have grown since he left for Syracuse in October. Geekie hopes to keep showing the organization the progress he’s made whenever he’s called up.
“He’s gotten better each game,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “I think that’s a big lesson for 98% of this league, the AHL is a development league. The players that embrace it and understand that’s where they learn, then come up and apply some of that in the NHL, it usually serves those guys well.”