The countdown comes to it’s conclusion (finally) with an overwhelming choice in Conor Geekie. The big center is excelling in Syracuse this season after surprising everyone by making the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.
NameConor GeekiePositionCenterAge (as of October 1, 2025)21Height/Weight6’4″, 207 lb.Expected 2025-26 TeamTampa Bay Lightning / Syracuse CrunchDraft – Year, Round2022, 1st Round (11) Arizona CoyotesPrevious Rankings1 (2024)JustinG. Ranking1Final Rank1
Stats:
Our Thoughts:
Since Jon Cooper took the reins behind the Tampa Bay Lightning full time in the 2013-14 season, how many players aged under 21 have played multiple games for the team in a season?
.
..
…
Six.
That’s it. Only six folks that aren’t of legal drinking age in the Sunshine State have played for the Lightning under Jon Cooper. Only one of them has done it this decade – Conor Geekie*. The very fact that he made the Lightning roster out of training camp in 2024-25 was a success. Had they to do it over again, would the Lightning have made another decision in regard to his development? That’s hard to say, but the path to the NHL isn’t always a straight, ascending line, so there is really no reason to be worried about Geekie’s progression so far.
He was/still is the key piece of the trade that sent Mikhail Sergachev to his life as a chicken-farming, fashion-setting hockey defender in Utah. Yes, J.J. Moser has emerged to be a top-pairing blueliner, but getting back a big, young, offensively-minded center to build around was very important to making this deal work.
A strong training camp and pre-season, which included the youngster getting suspended for sticking up for a teammate kind of made the Lightning’s decision for him. He didn’t pick up his first point until his sixth game, and the scoring came somewhat sporadically, but he was playing decent over the first month or so. As the season wore on, he became a little less effective, and with the Lightning chasing playoff positioning, the decision was made to send him to Syracuse in February after nine-game streak without a point.
The change did him well and Geekie was back to dominating games while he was with the Crunch. He put up 20 points (11 games, 9 assists) in 24 games. It wasn’t that he was scoring, he was driving play and, on most nights, was the most visible player on the ice. That earned him a recall, and he potted two goals over the final three games of the regular season.
What did we see in his first season of professional hockey? A player that has some pretty good hands for a big man (6’4″, 212 lbs). His shot, when he chooses to use it, is NHL quality. Geekie doesn’t shy away from physical contact and can battle along the boards with the best of them. His skating isn’t exactly top-notch, but it hasn’t horrible for a larger skater. There is work to be done there, and if he improves, it’ll help his game at the NHL level.
He came into the league as a 20-year-old with zero professional experience, and it showed a bit. Moves that he could get away with in the Western Hockey League, didn’t quite work against the cagey professionals of the NHL. That may have sapped his confidence a little and he started to defer to his linemates at time on the ice. There has to be a little bit of boldness in his game for him to be effective, and it seemed like he tried to be a little too cautious at times.
With the Crunch, that swagger was back in the game. He was willing to take players on one-on-one and drive the action toward the net instead of dumping the puck off or finding a teammate to dish the puck off to. His development/success in the NHL will depend on him being able to carry that forward against better competition.
Unlike some of the other 20-year-olds that have played for the Lightning over their history, Geekie hasn’t had the luxury of being able to fail at the NHL level. Every season Tampa Bay has the pressure of being a Stanley Cup contender. While that’s fun, and usually means a lot of wins to celebrate, it can be tough for young players trying to adapt and succeed in the NHL.
Even his teammates like Anthony Cirelli, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point didn’t begin their careers with the pressure of teams expected to win the Cup. Sure, the 2013-14 team that featured Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat getting their feet wet in the NHL racked up 101 points, but they were +2500 to win the Stanley Cup in the pre-season and had an expected over/under of 83.5 points for the season. They could make mistakes on the ice and not worry about being held out of the next 10 games in favor of a veteran.
That’s not the case with the current iteration of the Lightning. Every point is precious, and Coach Cooper has to put out a line-up that is going to compete for every one of those points. Would it be nice for him to be able to tell Geekie, or Jack Finley, or Max Groshev to just go out there and play, don’t worry about the results even if it leads to a loss? Sure, but that’s not going to happen for a few years.
For now, the development has to come at the AHL level. Not to spoil next year’s breakdown too much, but that seems to be the case with what they’re doing with Geekie in 2025-26. They sent him to Syracuse with the specific game plan of getting him as much time on the ice as possible so that he can be a first-line center, kill penalties, be on the top power play, and basically learn how to play in every situation.
That’s better than him playing ten minutes a night on the wing and worrying about a turnover costing him time on the ice. At this point, he is still the most complete prospect in the organization and can be a foundational piece for the post-Golden Years Lightning franchise.
Even if his ascension to full-time NHL forward doesn’t happen until next season, he’ll be young by Lightning standards. The only 22-year-olds who logged full seasons for the Lightning over the last ten seasons are Brayden Point (79 games in 2018-19) and Anthony Cirelli (68 games in 2019-20).
Your Thoughts:
Geekie. In a prove it year for me. Show me what you’ve got, hoss.
Geekie – it’s there, put it together.
Highlight Videos:
From last night. This is the Conor Geekie we all want to see in the NHL. He just bullied his way to the goal to pick up an assist (Scott Sabourin was credited with the goal).
— Raw Charge (@rawcharge.com) November 1, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Love how he just steps around the defender and drives to the net. He’s learning how to do it at the AHL level, and he has the skill to do it at the NHL level, it just takes time and experience. Bonus highlight in the comments show him ringing one off of the post. It’s a good example that he can carry a little more speed than opponents give him credit for and showcases how tricky his wristshot can be for goaltenders.
Conor Geekie DESTROYS Seth Jones’ ankles for the goal of the preseason 😵😮
— Gino Hard (@ginohard.bsky.social) October 2, 2025 at 11:48 PM
See. Here he breaks the ankles of a seasoned NHL vet (that is heading to the Olympics). Yes, it’s cheating to include it in the 2025 countdown, but you know what, it’s good enough to be in back-to-back years.
Tampa Bay goal!
Scored by Nick Paul with 07:44 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Conor Geekie.
Tampa Bay: 2
Florida: 2
#FLAvsTBL #GoBolts #TimeToHunt
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:12 PM
This is just a fun goal. He carries a lot of speed through the neutral zone to drive the defenders back. Then he spies the open teammate for the initial shot. Instead of retreating to the neutral zone, he uses his long reach to poke the puck off of the defender, leading to Paul’s goal. This is the shift of a second-line center right here.
Tampa Bay goal!
Scored by Conor Geekie with 04:35 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Brayden Point and Victor Hedman.
Tampa Bay: 2
Florida: 0
#FLAvsTBL #GoBolts #TimeToHunt
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) April 15, 2025 at 8:14 PM
And this is the shot of a 30-goal scorer. He puts himself in a prime scoring position and absolutely wrecks it. Quick and accurate. That will lead to quite a few goals.
Conor Geekie with the smooth finish for his second of the night.
@syracusecrunch.com | #SYRvsLV
— American Hockey League (@theahl.com) March 21, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Nice hands, a little acceleration to turn the defender, and a power move to the net. This is a player that trusts his skills and lets the play develop. Really nicely done.
*The other five – Mikhail Sergachev (2 seasons), Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point, Jonathan Drouin (2 seasons), and Nikita Kucherov.