The Tampa Bay Lightning are in a good position to make the playoffs for the 2023-24 season, and the same can be said for their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. After their 4-1 victory over the Rochester Amerks on Wednesday (Dec. 27), the Crunch are in second place in the AHL’s North Division. The Crunch continue to succeed in the AHL, even though the Lightning’s prospect pool is at the bottom of most expert rankings.
Many were concerned that the Crunch would not duplicate last season’s success in qualifying for the playoffs after the Lightning called up 2022-23 leading scorer and AHL first-team selection Alex Barre-Boulet; he has appeared to find a regular spot on their roster. However, first-year head coach Joel Boucher has been able to develop a group of players to work hard on all aspects of the game, and this blue-collar approach has paid off so far in the 2023-24 season.
Crunch’s Veteran Depth
If you look at a list of the top scorers in the AHL, you would have to go down the list a bit to find the first Syracuse Crunch player. The Lightning’s 2020 second-round pick, Gage Gonclaves, is their leading scorer with 29 points. But looking at the rest of the scoring leaders, one sees a group bunched closely together in the point totals. Felix Robert is the team leader in goals, and the 24-year-old has been considered one of the AHL’s best middle-six forwards over the last three seasons. Robert and Goncalves represent the high compete level that has been instrumental in putting the Crunch in playoff contention.
Having a quality organization as its parent club, the Crunch has been able to get and retain quality players, such as Daniel Walcott, the Crunch’s leader in career games played in Syracuse. In the offseason, the 29-year-old re-signed with the Crunch, saying he decided to stay in Syracuse because “They always find a way to bring in great people, great players, players that are good people first before their hockey talent.” Reuniting with Bouchard, who was his coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, has also paid dividends on the score sheet, as Walcott has nine goals this campaign, just four off the AHL career-best that he established last season.
Organization Free-Agent Signings
After trading away many top draft picks to keep the team competing for a Stanley Cup, the Lightning have had to work extra hard in signing free agents to maintain solid depth in the organization. One such acquisition that has benefitted the Crunch is the signing of Mitchell Chaffee, who is currently second on the team in scoring and leads the Crunch in power-play goals. The 25-year-old signed a one-year, two-way contract in July after playing only ten games for the Iowa Wild before an injury ended his season. His play for the Crunch earned him a one-game call-up recently, where he logged 6:56 of ice time and had two hits and one blocked shot.
Other recent signings by the Lightning that have had an impact include defenseman Emil Lilleberg, who signed a two-year contract after the Arizona Coyotes relinquished his rights. He spent most of last season with IK Oskarshamn of the Swedish Hockey League, where he had three goals, eight assists, and 11 points in 46 regular season games, along with an assist in three playoff games. Lilleberg has played solid defense in Syracuse and has one goal and 11 assists to go along with a plus-6 in 29 games.
After starting the season with the Lightning, Waltteri Merela is beginning to settle into the Crunch lineup. The 25-year-old brings some high level of playoff experience with him to Syracuse, having averaged a point a game in 14 playoff contests, recording eight goals and 14 points to lead the team for goals and rank tied for second for scoring in helping Tappara to its second-straight Liiga championship.
Crunch’s Solid Goaltending
As Lightning fans know, top-level goaltending can go a long way in determining the team’s success. The Crunch are fortunate enough to have two goaltenders that are playing very well. Matt Tomkins started the year with the Lightning when Andrei Vasilevskiy was recovering from his surgery. Since coming to the Crunch in late November, Tomkins has posted a 5-3-1 record with a 2.43 Goals Against Average and a .904 save percentage. He made some headlines before coming down as he became the 32nd goaltender in NHL history to earn his first career win at age 29 or older.
One of the highest-ranked Lightning prospects is the other Crunch goaltender, Hugo Alnefelt. The Lightning’s third-round draft pick in 2019 has a 4-4-3 record with a 2.36 GAA and a .905 save percentage. The 22-year-old Swede relies on quick reflexes and outstanding athleticism to make some acrobatic saves and to compensate for some occasional bad positioning around the net. Alnefelt has improved on this as well, as has his puck tracking from the blue line, and he’s close to being an NHL-ready netminder.
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The Crunch will face one of their bigger tests of the season as they continue a stretch of five straight road games against the Laval Rockets on Friday, Dec. 29. This is the longest stretch of road games all season for the Crunch. The trip began Wednesday (Dec. 27) in Rochester, and after two games in Laval, the team will begin 2024 with a pair of games in Toronto against the Marlies on Jan. 6-7.
