Just over a year ago, Conor Geekie was leaving Tampa for Syracuse, New York with the chance to develop his game further and regain his confidence.<\/p>\n
On Monday, that journey culminated with the young forward earning a spot on the Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s roster for the 2026-27 season opener, the latest step in his push to become an NHL regular.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s exciting,\u201d Geekie said ahead of Thursday\u2019s 7 p.m. game against the New York Rangers. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting the season going. It was a longer summer for us, and I\u2019m just trying to put my best foot forward every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since being acquired alongside JJ Moser in a June 2024 trade with Utah, Geekie has now made Tampa Bay\u2019s season-opening roster in all three of his seasons with the organization.<\/p>\n
He scored 14 points in 52 games for Tampa Bay during his rookie season in 2024-25 as well as 20 points in 24 AHL games for the Syracuse Crunch. He then played six NHL games last October before being assigned back to Syracuse.<\/p>\n
In that moment, his confidence felt depleted.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first year, I had it. I think last year I definitely lost it a little bit,\u201d Geekie said. \u201cI got sent down to Syracuse and got it back down there, but I think it was tough. There’s a lot of guys here, right? So when you’re on a 2-on-1 with really good players, maybe I wasn\u2019t thinking straight.\u201d<\/p>\n
After arriving in Syracuse, he took direction from Crunch head coach and general manager Joel Bouchard as well as Lightning director of skill development Randi Milani and skating coaches Barb Underhill and Scott Gaetz.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a little bit of a swagger, some confidence that you can’t teach,\u201d Milani said. \u201cAnd the Syracuse experience I think was the best thing for him where he really got to work on the details of his game. It was almost like a development playground, and he needed that. It was definitely not an ideal situation for him in the beginning, but he really embraced it, and it became the best thing in terms of furthering his growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geekie finished with 17 goals and 59 points in 57 AHL games, tying for second among all Crunch players for assists and points. He was also named an AHL All-Star.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe group we had there, it’s the closest group of people I’ve ever been around,\u201d Geekie said of his time with Tampa Bay\u2019s AHL affiliate. \u201cAs soon as I got there, it was like I\u2019d played there since the start of the year. There’s a lot of trust from (Bouchard) and all the coaching staff that goes into it to allow me to play my way and be on both sides of the puck. But being able to play 23, 25 minutes and them trusting me, I think it just kind of clicked, and obviously, I had some really good players down there to help me with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in Tampa<\/p>\n
Geekie returned to Tampa Bay last spring, ending the season with a goal and two assists over 14 NHL games as well as two Stanley Cup Playoff games.<\/p>\n
Geekie, now 22, looked strong this training camp, exhibiting quicker feet and his usual physicality while reminding fans of his blistering shot. His two goals and three points co-led Tampa Bay this preseason, and his nine shots on goal paced all Bolts.<\/p>\n
Geekie\u2019s last 12 months marked another step in the Lightning development process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s just how you progress,\u201d Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, \u201cand I think sometimes because you’re taken in the first round, it’s like \u2018Oh my god, you\u2019ve got to be in the NHL right away.\u2019 That’s not how it is\u2026I think he’s really progressed as he’s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Milani believes Geekie’s biggest growth since last season is visible through his skating.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow he’s gotten himself to a point where he can incorporate it into anything,\u201d Milani said. \u201cYou\u2019ll see it inside his shot, inside his transitions, inside any form of his exits and his passing. He’s definitely taken a jump with his skating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside fellow young forwards Sam O\u2019Reilly and Benjamin Rautiainen, Geekie was one of just three players to skate in all four Lightning preseason games. He is the youngest player on the team\u2019s opening night roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m kind of bringing that first preseason, first camp mindset where nobody knows your name,\u201d Geekie said. \u201cI just wanted to come here, show up, shoot the puck, play how you want and play the right way. I think it’s benefiting me now, but it was a bit of a learning curve the last couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geekie is still a young player preparing to play on a team that remains committed to its chase for another Stanley Cup. With injuries to centers Dominic James and Yanni Gourde, there is more room for Geekie to grab added playing time and responsibility.<\/p>\n
Recent practice lines had Geekie skating with Gage Goncalves and Jansen Harkins, and he\u2019s also seen time on Tampa Bay\u2019s second power play unit during camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has nothing but runway,\u201d Milani said. \u201cHe has an entire career ahead of him, so these years are building blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be highs and lows, and Geekie\u2019s development will continue over another season of professional hockey.<\/p>\n
That next chapter resumes this week, with renewed confidence paving the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just over a year ago, Conor Geekie was leaving Tampa for Syracuse, New York with the chance to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-417517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}