Ray Emery’s attempt to extend his NHL career with the Tampa Bay Lightning has come to an unceremonious end. The veteran goaltender was released from his professional tryout agreement by the club Sunday.
The Lightning had been in need of backup goaltending help after Andrei Vasilevskiy required surgery to remove a blood clot, leaving him out of action for at least the first two months of the season. Tampa Bay turned to Emery on a tryout basis, but after the New York Islanders waived goaltender Kevin Poulin, a new option emerged.
The Lightning claimed Poulin off waivers, getting a younger netminder that can help provide some minor league depth if and when they decide to bring Vasilevskiy back into the NHL fold following his recovery.
Emery appeared in just two preseason games and allowed six goals on 36 shots against. The 32-year-old still could catch on with another team, but it might tougher to find NHL work at this stage of the preseason.
In 31 games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season, Emery went 10-11-7, while posting an .894 save percentage and 3.06 goals-against average. He is a veteran of 287 NHL games overall and has a career save percentage of .906.
Poulin, who has a .931 save percentage through two preseason appearances, appeared in just one NHL game last season with the Islanders. He has 50 games of NHL experience with an .899 career save percentage.
