On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning agreed to a two-year contract with one of their pending free agents. Declan Carlile, a 24-year-old defenseman, was set to be a restricted free agent this summer, but the club avoided that process by signing him to a two-year, two-way contract that will keep him in the organization through the 2025-26 season. When the deal expires following the 2025-26 season, he is scheduled to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
It was another solid year for the undrafted college free agent that the Lightning signed in March of 2022. He appeared in 61 games for the Syracuse Crunch and set a career-high with 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists). With the amount of shuffling that the AHL team had to go through on the defensive side due to injuries and call-ups, he emerged as a steady presence for Joel Bouchard’s squad and added another 5 points in 8 playoff games.
The Merrimack College product’s production wasn’t unnoticed by the Lightning, as he made his NHL debut on January 4th against the Minnesota Wild. Carlile, who plays on the left side of the defense, recorded one hit and blocked two shots in 11:27 of ice time. In other words, he played a Declan Carlile type of game.
As the contract is a two-way deal, and he is still waivers-exempt next season, expect him to start the season in Syracuse where, depending on how active the Crunch are in free agency, he could earn a lot of time on the top pairing. Depending on his play and injuries in Tampa, he should be one of the top call-ups throughout the season.
A smart defenseman who can defend the rush very well, Carlile finished 11th in our most recent Top 25 Under with the recently departed Jack Thompson as the only defender ranked higher. We’ll see if he moves up in the rankings or if the breakout seasons by Emil Lilleberg and Eamon Powell carry them past him.
Carlile is likely on a similar developmental path as Nick Perbix. There aren’t many things that really stand out in his game, but at the same time, there aren’t many things that he really struggles with, either. He has decent size at 6’2″ and 192 lbs and is willing to use that size to block shots and his reach to break up passes in the neutral zone. He has shown that he can handle his own in the AHL and the next step will be to see if he can handle the speed and skill of NHL players at the next level.
