2 Tampa Bay Lightning Prospects Who Could Get Called Up This Season

As the season gets underway, players will begin to suffer injuries as they sacrifice their bodies for the sake of their team, not to mention the ever-present concern of a positive Covid diagnosis. Eventually, there will be players who will need to miss games, and others will need to be called in to replace them in the lineup. Here are two such prospects who could see some playing time on the Tampa Bay Lightning this season.

Sean Day

It's always satisfying for fans when a prospect is picked up after the team that drafted them has given up on their development. Such was the case for Sean Day, selected 81st overall in 2016 by the New York Rangers only for them to waive his rights in May of 2020. Day went to play with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, Tampa Bay's American League affiliate, and in their shortened season last year finished with 2 goals and 15 points in 29 games, leading all Crunch blueliners in assists (12) and points. Day was always projected to have the potential of an elite 2-way defenceman, all the skills were present. Where he struggled was putting them all together. After the Lightning signed him to a 2-way deal in August of this year, Day has shown that he may have crossed that final hurdle. After 13 games with the Crunch this season, Day has 2 goals and 10 points, nearly doubling the pace of his point production. He is third on the team in scoring as of this writing, and while he was expected to be a second-pairing DMan this season, injuries gave him the opportunity to play top minutes and he's flourished in the role. All Day needs to do is continue at this pace while being strong in his own end, and he's a shoo-in for a call-up down the road.

DAYZY! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/u6TdIYWtxD

— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) November 14, 2021

Cole Koepke

This was a tough one. Currently, it's a toss-up between Cole Koepke and Gage Conclaves for who the Lightning's best forward prospect is, but Koepke wins out because of his higher rate of scoring and special teams abilities. A 6th-round pick from 2018, Koepke went the college route and wrapped up his final year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth by scoring 15 goals and 23 points in 28 games, all while sporting an "A" on his jersey as his team's alternate captain. He made the jump to the AHL that year, scoring 2 goals and 3 points in 9 games. After 9 games this season, he has 2 goals and 7 points, a notable bump in production. The Lightning have a habit of turning their late-round selections into NHL contributors, and Koepke is on track to be just that. As long as he keeps producing, he'll be seeing the NHL ice in no time.

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