Former Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Declan Carlile scored his first NHL goal Saturday.
The one-time Wellington Duke beat Seattle Kraken netminder Phillipp Grubauer’s glove in the final minute of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 5-1 in Seattle.
The undrafted 24-year-old defenceman was playing in his second career NHL game and first this season.
“I was an undrafted free agent out of school and I didn’t know where I’d be,” Carlile said. “Now I’m here and I scored my first NHL goal, which is something you always dream about as a kid. And on top of it we got a great team win, so that was good.”
See video:
https://www.nhl.com/lightning/video/declan-carlile-on-first-career-nhl-goal-6366018056112
Carlile, 24, logged 11:10 of ice time and blocked two shots Saturday. The 6-foot-3, 192-pound defenceman has skated in 21 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey this season, recording one goal and three points with 23 penalty minutes.
A native of Hartland, Michigan, Carlile was originally signed by Tampa Bay as a free agent on March 16, 2022.
Carlile was named to the OJHL’s All-Prospect Second Team while playing with the league champion Dukes in 2018-19. The Dukes went on to win the Dudley Hewitt Cup and play in the national championship game that season. He played college hockey at NCAA Division I Merrimack.
Carlile was ranked 162nd for the 2020 NHL Draft but was not selected.
After sending Carlile back to Syracuse Sunday, he was recalled to the Lightning Tuesday.
The Lightning host Columbus tonight and St. Louis on Thursday.
-with files from the Tampa Bay Lightning
