Lightning Assign Dominic James to Syracuse Crunch

The Lightning assigned center Dominic James to the Syracuse Crunch on Friday in a move that may have caught some by surprise, but it’s not necessarily something to read too much into.

James has been working his way back from a broken hand suffered during his first workout back with the Lightning this summer. He has since returned to full participation at practice after initially being expected to miss the first two weeks of the season.

The 24-year-old spent the summer rehabbing an ankle injury that caused him to miss time ahead of the Lightning’s first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens last season. He had fully recovered before suffering the hand injury.

With the Lightning continuing to use an 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup, the assignment gives James a chance to get back into game action after missing all of training camp. He joined the Crunch lineup Friday night against the Rochester Americans and will have another opportunity to play Saturday against the Belleville Senators.

Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov and Scott Sabourin were both absent from Friday’s practice.

Kucherov briefly left Thursday’s win over the Minnesota Wild after his left skate got caught and he went down awkwardly, but he returned to the game. Sabourin, meanwhile, had a previously scheduled doctor’s appointment.