Katchouk & Raddysh win final Opening Night roster spots

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a couple roster openings and a starting lineup spot up for grabs when they began training camp three weeks ago.
That's a bit of a departure from the last couple of seasons when pretty much all of the 23 slots available on the Opening Night roster had been accounted for entering camp.
But after losing their entire third line plus Tyler Johnson among the forward group and only bringing in Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the offseason to replace them, the Lightning knew they would be relying on a couple of their young prospects to fill those holes.

As camp progressed and cuts were made, it became a three-way race between Alex Barre-Boulet, Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh for the two openings. And on Monday, when all NHL teams had to have their Opening Night rosters submitted by 5 p.m., the Lightning's choice became clear.
Katchouk and Raddysh will be with Tampa Bay for Opening Night.
Barre-Boulet, unfortunately, is no longer with the organization.

Raddysh would appear to have the inside track to be in the starting lineup when the Lightning raise their 2021 Stanley Cup Championship banner and open the 2021-22 regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday at AMALIE Arena. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound forward skated on the Bolts' fourth line with Patrick Maroon and Bellemare as Tampa Bay practiced Monday in preparation for the start of the season the following day. He also teamed with Katchouk as a forward duo on one of the Bolts' penalty-killing units.
Katchouk also was listed when the Lightning released their Opening Night roster and will make his NHL debut at some point this season. Like Raddysh, he has great size at 6-foot-2, 204 pounds and is well-suited to play as a heavier forward with guys like Maroon, Bellemare, Perry and Ross Colton.
"They've been groomed by the organization for a number of years now. They know what they need to do and how we play," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "On an individual standpoint, they're both big bodies. They've got skill. They've played at the high levels of junior or world junior, the American League, and had success on every stage."
Raddysh scored 12 goals, tied for the team lead, and posted 29 points in 27 games for AHL Syracuse last season. Katchouk paced the Crunch for scoring with 34 points in 29 games. Both were drafted by the Lightning in the Second Round of the 2016 Draft and have played the last three seasons in Syracuse.
Both also were with the Lightning last season during the entirety of the team's Stanley Cup playoff run once their season in Syracuse had been completed, an experience that was invaluable in the development of the two prospects.
"I think these guys are stepping into a team now that they got a really up-close look last year in the playoffs," Cooper said. "They were with us the whole time. They were on the ice at the final buzzer last year. They got to hoist the Cup. They know the standard that's been set here, and they deserve it. They've had solid careers in the American League, and now they're in the NHL. But nothing's handed to them. It doesn't mean they're going to be in the lineup Opening Night. I'm a true believer your work just starts. You don't take a breath when you get to the NHL. They're well aware of that."

The Lightning assigned Barre-Boulet to Syracuse along with defensemen Fredrik Claesson and Andrej Sustr in their final round of cuts from camp, but the skilled forward didn't make it through waivers. The Seattle Kraken, who will play their first game in franchise history Tuesday when they travel to Las Vegas to take on the Golden Knights, claimed Barre-Boulet, ending his time in the Lightning organization.
Losing Barre-Boulet is a considerable blow. He made his NHL debut with the Lightning last season and scored three goals in 15 games. Highly talented and with a knack for scoring goals and putting up big numbers at whatever level he was playing, Barre-Boulet was likely a victim of the situation. Tampa Bay had plenty of skilled forwards to fill its top two lines but needed a heavier body to complement the third and fourth lines. Barre-Boulet is best suited for a top six role, one that was going to be tough to obtain with the current makeup of the Lightning roster.
For the rest of the players that were cut from camp, Cooper's message was simple: Just because you're not with the Lightning now doesn't mean you're not going to be needed at some point this season.
"The bottom line is, the guys that are playing October 12 aren't the only guys that are going to play on this team throughout the year," Cooper said.