SYRACUSE, N.Y. ­­– Fifteen former Syracuse Crunch players have made the 21-man 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning opening night roster.
 

Of the 15 players, 12 are returners – Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Mathieu Joseph, Cedric Paquette, Alex Killorn, Jan Rutta, Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak, Ondrej Palat and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Those 11 players combined for 489 points last season.

Former Crunch forward Carter Verhaeghe makes his first NHL roster after a standout 2018-19 season. Verhaeghe claimed the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the leading point-getter in the AHL with 82 points, while he and Alex Barre-Boulet shared the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL's leading goal scorer in 2018-19 with 34. Verhaeghe was the first player in Crunch history to claim the AHL scoring title.

Since the affiliation began in 2012, 55 players have appeared with both the Crunch and the Lightning. The Crunch have a total of seven Calder Cup Playoff series wins, including two Calder Cup Finals berths. Syracuse has qualified for the postseason in five of their seven seasons affiliated with the Lightning after making the playoffs 10 times in their first 18 seasons. Of the organization's four division championships, three of them have come while affiliated with the Lightning.

The Crunch and Lightning are entering their eighth year of the affiliation this season. In that time, the Crunch own a 278-175-45-34 record and have made five postseason appearances, including the team's two most successful seasons to date with its first trip to the Calder Cup Finals in 2013 and again in 2017.

The Lightning open the regular season on Thursday, Oct. 3 against the Florida Panther, while the Crunch get underway on Friday, Oct. 4 against the Rochester Americans.

Ticket packages and single game tickets for the 2019-20 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.