Lightning call up Conor Geekie after Oliver Bjorkstrand is sidelined (2025)

TAMPA — Conor Geekie is a competitor, and when he was told Friday night he wouldn’t be in the lineup for AHL Syracuse’s game against Lehigh Valley he was a mix of confused and angry.

With injuries to forwards Luke Glendening and Oliver Bjorkstrand — who is week to week with a lower-body injury— the Lightning recalled Geekie in advance of Sunday’s game against the Sabres at Amalie Arena.

The rookie, acquired from Utah in the Mikhail Sergachev trade, could play an important role for the NHL club in the final week of the regular season and playoffs, which start next week.

“I was fortunate enough to get called up,” Geekie said. “But it was one of those things where I just wanted to play (Friday).”

Veteran forward Cam Atkinson was assigned to Syracuse in a corresponding move.

Everywhere he’d been, Geekie had been a scorer, a player who demanded the puck. But after making the Lightning roster out of training camp, the 20-year-old naturally deferred to the stars around him. He had six goals and six assists in 49 games with the Lightning when he was sent to Syracuse on Feb. 4 to further his development.

Geekie found his game with the Crunch. In his first extended stint in the AHL (he played two games there last season) he was able to get minutes, regain his confidence, work on his skating and skills, and learn from the team’s veteran players.

The organization took pressure off him by playing him at right wing instead of his natural center position. Working with skating coach Barb Underhill, and skating and skill consultant Randi Milani every week also helped.

“The one thing about the American League, and especially the operation that’s run in our organization, it’s been fantastic for development,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

“Geeks has got a long career ahead of him, and to go down there and just get more minutes, more touches, more being put in more situations than you’re afforded up here, did nothing but help him. He’s excelled down there.”

“Super fun,” Geekie said of his time in Syracuse. “I think getting to go down there, trying to take advantage of all the resources there. The guys were unreal, and obviously the coaching staff and the support was incredible.

“... Off the start, how I could get back to (Tampa) was my thought. But then, I think I just kind of put my head down and said, you know, let’s just see how far we can go with these guys. They’ve (welcomed) me with open arms down there, too. It’s sad to go, that’s for sure.”

With a recent seven-game point streak that included eight goals, Geekie showed he was deserving of a call-up.

An opportunity arose when fourth-line center Glendening went down with an upper-body injury. But the Lightning needed to wait a few days before recalling Geekie to maximize cap space in the season’s final week.

“The bottom line is, when you start getting injuries,” Cooper said, “it’s great to have somebody of his talent to be able to bring back up.”

Being without Bjorkstrand for a significant amount of time is a big setback for the Lightning, who sent two first-round draft picks to Seattle at the trade deadline in a package that brought Bjorkstrand and center Yanni Gourde to Tampa.

After a slow start, Bjorkstrand was beginning to find his footing, especially on the first power-play unit. He had taken over the bumper position in front of the net and scored on the man-advantage Wednesday against Toronto.

“That’s tough,” Cooper said, ”because he’s somebody that he’s really grown into his role with us. And, hopefully, we have him back for the playoffs at some point.”

One big reason the Lightning acquired Bjorkstrand was to add his hard, quick, right-handed shot to a lineup filled with lefties. His addition to the power play gave Nikita Kucherov another one-timer option (along with Brayden Point) from Kucherov’s position on the right flank.

During Sunday’s morning skate, the Lightning had Brandon Hagel, a left-handed shot, in the bumper spot on the first power-play unit. He also swapped with Point, who had shifted from the bumper to the left side.

The Lightning entered Sunday 5-for-8 on the power play over their previous three games after an 0-for-10 stretch in the four before that.

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