It was not a typical Lightning Media Day.
12 members of the team are north of the border at the World Cup of Hockey, including head coach Jon Cooper. One of the those players is star wing Nikita Kucherov, who is playing for Team Russia.
He is a restricted free agent and one of the only key pieces the Lightning has yet to sign. General Manager Steve Yzerman confirmed Thursday that a deal has not been reached.
"We want him here," said Yzerman about Kucherov. "He's a tremendous player. He's a popular player on the team. Being young he's still one of the leaders on our team, so we want to get him in here as soon as possible. It takes time. Does it become a distraction? I don't anticipate that. Again, our goal is to have home signed and in here as soon as possible. It's our hope to have him signed an in camp as soon as he's done (at the World Cup), but that may or may not happen.
While Cooper is away, longtime assistant Rick Bowness is running things. There was no on-ice activity Thursday, just team meetings, photo shoots and physicals. For the guys in town, they say the players missing shouldn't disrupt training camp.
"I think it's gonna help us having so many guys playing over in these competitive games right away," said Lightning wing Ryan Callahan, who would have been playing in the World Cup if he didn't undergo hip surgery in the offseason.
"They've gotten thrown into some pretty fast paced hard hockey right off the start. I think those guys are going to have an advantage coming into camp. We gotta make sure the guys in this room are ready to go and at the same pace and level they are when they come back.
Callahan, who is anticipating a November return to the ice, said he is feeling great.
“A lot of us are going to have to play a lot more exhibition games," said Lightning center Alex Killorn. "There's gonna be a lot more guys in lineups and in training camps so it's gonna be a different feel for sure."
“Our goal is to make the playoffs," said Steve Yzerman. "Again I say that every year. It's hard to make the playoffs. How do we make the playoff? It starts by having a good start to the regular season. How do you have a good start to the regular season? You show up to training camp in really good shape.”
“It's just another opportunity really," said Lightning center Brian Boyle, about a team who is very similar to the one who fell two wins short of the Stanley Cup in 2015 and took Pittsburgh to Game 7 of th Eastern Conference Final last year.
"We're excited about our team and what we have in this room. Obviously when you come up short it's kind of an opportunity missed and you don't know how many opportunities you’re going to get. So if we understand that, we understand that importance of this season and starting it out right."
The team hits the ice for the first time Friday. Preseason game number one is Tuesday at Amalie against Carolina. Triple-A Syracuse players and prospects will fill in the roster until the entire team is back together.