Top prospect Conor Geekie proves to be right fit for Lightning roster

TAMPA — One of the biggest questions entering Lightning training camp this season was whether top prospect Conor Geekie would be able to crack the NHL roster.

On Monday, he survived the last cut and was among the 22 players the team submitted to the league by the roster deadline.

The Lightning are free to shuffle their roster before Friday’s opener at Carolina, and there are some injured players who could return. But if the increased role Geekie had in Monday’s practice was any indication, the 20-year-old would appear ready to make his NHL debut Friday against the Hurricanes.

The Lightning haven’t had a prospect the caliber of Geekie — acquired in the late June trade that sent defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to Utah — in years, and the organization has been careful to temper expectations for a player who entered the season with just two games of AHL experience under his belt.

“He hasn’t given anybody in our organization a reason to send him down,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “And as we move forward, there’s a balance, because you don’t want to give too much too soon. But when a player is acting and performing like they’re ready, then that’s a whole different ballgame.

“He’s performed extremely well for us. We can afford to give him a look, especially with the fact that we do have some guys that are injured in the balance.”

Earning his spot

Geekie stood out over the course of the preseason. Whether it was charging up the ice moments after a misplay to score the winning goal in his preseason debut, jumping into puck battles and winning them or hopping over the boards to fight a Panthers player who had made an open-ice hit on Victor Hedman, Geekie has given the Lightning reason to think he can help make them a better team right now.

“He’s shown an NHL maturity for a young kid,” Cooper said. “So, that is a good thing for us. Does he, at times, do immature things? Sure he does, but so do some guys that have been in this league for 10 years. For us, it’s to make sure those don’t become a habit. But he’s wise beyond his years in the way he thinks and sees the game. And so, it’s a meritocracy; the kid deserves it.”

The Lightning historically have done a good job of not rushing players to the NHL. Even Nikita Kucherov spent some time in the AHL. But the same support from teammates that helped in-season additions get assimilated in recent years has helped Geekie find comfort in his new environment.

“Honestly, I think the biggest thing was just when I messed up, I think they were all just, ‘Don’t worry about it,’” Geekie said. “I think, as a young guy, I came in here and you want to play your game. But you also don’t want to mess up. But part of my game is messing up.

“So again, it’s one of those things where they were just so good at just, ‘The next one, the next one, go get the next one.’ And again, it just helped me out a lot. And I think my comfort level has grown a lot.”

When center Nick Paul joined the Lightning at the 2022 trade deadline, veteran players helped him adjust to a new team and alleviated pressure he might have felt as an in-season addition to a team poised to make a Stanley Cup run. Now, Geekie said Paul has been one of the players who has helped him the most.

“The biggest thing is just warming them up to the group, making them feel comfortable, getting to know their personality,” Paul said. “And I feel like that always translates onto the ice.

“That way, in the season, say he makes a play that I don’t agree with and I say, ‘Hey, this is what I think we should do next time,’ we have that relationship where he’s not taking it as me yelling at him or me putting him down. It’s just like, ‘All right, this is how we are going to be better.’ And I feel like, as a hockey team, everyone has to have that level of respect and relationship where you give constructive criticism.”

Increased responsibility

Interestingly, Geekie is now skating on a third line centered by Paul after spending most of the preseason centering a line consisting of prospects. It’s the first time Geekie has played wing since he was 15 or 16, even though he played the position for Canada during the World Junior Championship.

Paul has taken notice, not only of the skill Geekie has displayed in the dirty areas, but also how hard he’s been working.

“You can really tell a player with really good skill when he makes the little triangle plays and when he’s in tight, what he does with the puck and his options and what he decides the right play is,” Paul said. “And I think he is really, really good at that. When he gets in jams, he’s able to make those little through-the-legs or through-the-stick passes to the open support guy, which restarts the cycle.

“You look at his work ethic, he works super, super hard, which always adds to your skill, because if you work hard in the D-zone you get more offense and more time in the O-zone. So, I think that’s huge. And then size and his physicality, he’s shown he’s not scared to back down and stick up for teammates. I really like what I’ve seen from him.”

For the first time with the Lightning, Geekie also is getting time with the second power-play unit at the right-circle spot. There, he will be more of a shooter than a facilitator. Nikita Kucherov runs the top unit from the right half-wall.

“It’s super fun,” Geekie said. “‘Hags’ (Brandon Hagel) hit me backdoor numerous times. I think I’ve got to get more used to catching hard passes. But it’s just so much fun.”

Geekie’s future projects as a top-six forward. He can score (49 goals and 108 points in 64 games, including playoffs, in his final juniors season) as well as defend. But for now, the Lightning are content to let him work his way up.

“It’s a different system, right?” Geekie said. “I’m trying to figure out the system as a center man and trying to figure it out as a winger, and they do a good job getting me video. And I just try and watch other guys how they do it. I think anytime you get to play anywhere in the lineup, but especially on the third line, fourth line, whatever it may be, I think you’ve just kind of got to take advantage of it wherever they spot you.”

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