Tampa Bay Lightning fans knew something was brewing in the Big Apple this afternoon when the Lightning reassigned Lightning forward Cory Conacher to the Syracuse Crunch. The Bolts had two players waiting in the wings to make their return; Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan and forward Nikita Kucherov.
As most Lightning fans know by now, Ryan Callahan had an unpleasant off-season after finding out he would have to undergo surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip. This injury would reportedly cause Callahan to miss five months away from the ice.