Lightning Places Sergachev on LTIR as Blueline Depth Dwindles

The Tampa Bay Lightning placed defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on injured reserve Wednesday due to a lower-body injury, per CapFriendly. He has been out since Dec. 21, and putting him on injured reserve gives the team a chance to call someone up to fill out an already depleted blue line. He has two goals, 19 points, and 69 blocked shots in 33 games this season.

In addition to Sergachev, the Lightning blue line is already without Erik Cernak (upper body) and Haydn Fleury (hand). CapFriendly has reported that the 25-year-old had to be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) as the team has just under $400,000 of usable LTIR salary space before recalling Sean Day and Declan Carlile from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. Sergachev will be eligible to return for the Jan. 13 game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Two Defensemen Recalled from Syracuse

Day has seen his name on the NHL transaction sheet often recently, with a few call-ups within the last few months, but he has not seen any game time this season. He has appeared in two career NHL games, both with the Lightning, during the 2021-22 season, registering four hits, two blocks, and one takeaway while averaging 10:43 time on ice. In 17 games with the Crunch this season, the 25-year-old has posted eight assists, ranking third among Crunch defensemen in assists and tied for fifth among blueliners in scoring.

The 23-year-old Carlile has not appeared in an NHL game and was an undrafted free-agent signing in 2022 out of Merrimack College. He has tallied three goals and nine points through 31 games this season with Syracuse, tied for first on the team’s blue line in goals and third in scoring.

Recalling both players allows the Lightning to skate at least six defensemen in tonight’s (Jan. 4) game against the Minnesota Wild. The Lightning are coming off a loss on Tuesday (Jan. 2) to the Winnipeg Jets, in which they skated only five defensemen due to the loss of Cernak, Fleury, and Sergachev.