Tampa Bay Lightning Bring Back Familiar Face Cory Conacher

Tampa Bay Lightning Bring Back a Familiar Face in Cory Conacher, Who Spent Last Season With SC Bern of the Swiss League

Tampa Bay Lightning brought back a familiar face on Wednesday signing Cory Conacher to a one-way, one-year deal worth $575,000 dollars.

For those who don’t remember, Conacher was the player TB reluctantly gave up to Ottawa to acquire Ben Bishop.  He is also the distant relative of former Maple Leafs legend Charlie Conacher.

Cory Conacher first broke onto the scene back in 2011-12 posting an eye-popping 80 points in 75 games with AHL Norfolk.

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He continued his dominance with AHL Syracuse during the 2012-13 lockout shortened season, and made the jump to full-time NHL duties during the 48-game season.

He posted 24 points in 35 games before he was traded to Ottawa late in the season. Cory tallied five points in the final 12 regular season games, and three goals in eight postseason contests for the Sens.

In 2013-14, Conacher struggled in the Canadian Capital City posting a mere 20 points in 60 games. Ottawa was forced to put him on waivers in March 2014, and was soon claimed by the Buffalo Sabres. Cory scored three goals, three assists (six points) during his short 19-game Sabres tenure.

Signing as a free agent in the summer of 2014, Cory Conacher joined the New York Islanders organization. He appeared in 15 NHL games for the Isles, tallying three points. He had success down in AHL Bridgeport with 23 points in 28 games.

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Once again though, he failed to remain with one club for an entire season as he was traded for the second time in his career. Conacher was moved to Vancouver in exchange for Dustin Jeffrey. Cory added to his AHL totals with 16 points in 20 games for Utica (a total of 39 points in 48 games).

Cory took his talents overseas this past season (2015-16) signing a one-year deal with SC Bern of the Swiss-A League. Conacher was a dominant player in this well renowned league producing 52 points in 48 regular season games. He was a key player for SC Bern en route to a league championship victory.

At 26 years old, Cory is well worth the one-year risk for the Tampa Bay Lightning. At the very worst, he’s a proven productive AHL scorer who will at least help their minor league affiliate.

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The thought process for Steve Yzerman and company could be that Conacher found himself in an unfavorable situation in Ottawa which led to a few years of bouncing around organizations. 

For a young man in his early to mid 20s (at the time), the experience could have been devastating/demoralizing – enough to shatter his confidence.

The Lightning are probably hoping they can build him back up and let him find his game again in the place where it first started for the former Canisius College product.

Whether he manages to re-establish himself, or proves nothing more than a solid minor league player, it’s a feel good story for the Burlington, Ontario native who gets another crack at the NHL.