Tampa Bay Lightning rookie left wing Brett Connolly was a healthy scratch for the first time this season when he sat out Thursday's 2-1 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The 19-year-old has seen his ice time dip to five or six minutes a game as he has struggled to learn the defensive part of the game.
The sixth overall pick in the 2010 draft is going through some growing pains not unfamiliar to many young players, including Steven Stamkos and Tyler Seguin, who was the second overall pick in the same draft year as Connolly.
"Every player that is 19 years old goes through what he is going through right now," head coach Guy Boucher said. "We know he is going to be a terrific player. He has tremendous skills, he's got great speed ... but this is the NHL and there are a lot of things guys have to learn and 99 percent of the time that's being reliable defensively."
Boucher gave no indication as to whether Connolly sitting out would be for more than just one game with Tampa Bay getting set for a third consecutive divisional game as Florida comes to town on Saturday. But whenever Connolly does find his way back into the lineup, he will have to earn the trust of the coaching staff to put him out on the ice and pick up ice time.
"I have to get better in my defensive end," Connolly said. "It's a work in progress. It's a matter of me getting better as a hockey player -- (even) if that means I have to play on the fourth line and not play as much and focus on the D zone."
While Connolly remains eligible to return to junior and potentially play for Tri-City of the Western Hockey League in the postseason, that decision would have to be made prior to the Feb. 27 NHL trade deadline. Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman said that has not been discussed at this time and is not in the plans, but left the door open in the event Tampa Bay falls too far out of the playoff chase.
