TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-assigned goaltender Matt Tomkins and defensemen Max Crozier and Emil Lilleberg to their American Hockey League affiliate the Syracuse Crunch, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
Tomkins, 29, completed his first season with the Lightning and went 3-2-1 with a 3.33 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. He made his NHL debut Oct. 15 at Ottawa and earned his first career NHL win Nov. 7 at Montreal after making 23-of-26 saves in a 5-3 win. Tomkins finished the season 3-0-1 after dropping his first two starts of the season. He was a seventh-round selection (199th overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2012 NHL Draft and was signed by the Lightning to a two-year, two-way contract on May 10, 2023.
Crozier, 24, skated in three games for the Lightning during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and logged four shots, five hits and two blocked shots while averaging 14:15 time on ice. He played 13 games for Tampa Bay during the regular season, posting two assists. Crozier made his NHL debut Jan. 13 vs. Anaheim and picked up his first NHL point in his fifth game Jan. 23 at Philadelphia. The Calgary native was a fourth-round selection (120th overall) of the Lightning in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Lilleberg, 23, skated in all five games for the Lightning during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and recorded five shots, 15 hits and four blocked shots while averaging 17:25 time on ice. During the regular season, Lilleberg played in 37 contests and tallied five assists. He made his NHL debut Jan. 6 at Boston to become just the ninth Norwegian to play in the NHL. He notched his first NHL point three days later in his second game Jan. 9 vs. Los Angeles. Lilleberg was originally a fourth-round selection (107th overall) of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2021 NHL Draft and signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Lightning on June 5, 2023.
