The Lightning have reassigned forward Brett Connolly to the Syracuse Crunch. According to Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times, GM Steve Yzerman stated:
“He is just struggling to find his game. “He’s not getting things accomplished. We just feel it’s better for him to go back and continue in his development. He’s still young,” Yzerman said of the 21-year-old. “We just have to be patient. He’s getting better. His attitude is good. He’s a good player. It just takes some time.”
Asked, about areas that Connolly needs to improve, Yzerman said, “For him to develop; short term for him to get his confidence and feel good about himself and get back to doing the things he did well in preseason and all of last year,” Yzerman said. “He’s got to get back to Syracuse to do that. We just want him playing.”
Since Connolly’s call up he has scored one goal and was a -5 while playing on the first line most of the time. (Photo/Susan Ferlita)
During the 2012-13 season, Connolly appeared in five games with the Bolts, scoring one goal. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound forward has skated in 73 career NHL games with the Lightning, recording five goals and 16 points with 30 penalty minutes. Two of Connolly’s five career goals have been game-winners. He scored his first career NHL goal on November 1, 2011 at Carolina and also made his NHL debut against the Hurricanes on October 7, 2011.
Connolly was originally drafted by the Lightning in the first round, sixth overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
No return call up is expected as the injured Tom Pyatt is close to returning to the lineup.
After getting the news of the demotion a positive Connolly tweeted this:
Well…. no one said this journey was going to be easy!
— Brett Connolly (@bconnolly8) November 22, 2013
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