Future is bright for Lightning prospect Conor Geekie, but is it now?

BRANDON — As much as Conor Geekie enjoys scoring goals, there's something especially satisfying to him about frustrating opponents with his defensive play.

"I think that might be the third child syndrome," Geekie said with a smile Sunday, "I don't know."

As the youngest of three brothers, Conor had to scrap for everything against his older siblings while growing up in small-town Manitoba, and it was no different on the ice.

"Going against Morgan and Noah my whole life, it was just trying to not lose, and I think that kind of translated over to the game," Geekie said. "I love scoring more than anything, and I always will, and I love making plays. But again, at the same time, I love shutting guys down."

As the Lightning's top prospect, acquired from Utah in the Mikhail Sergachev trade, the 20-year-old Geekie's future is bright. Tampa Bay hasn't had a prospect of his caliber in years, and the 11th overall pick by Arizona in the 2022 draft could be on the NHL roster sooner than later.

"We really like his potential in terms of ability to play big minutes at the NHL level," Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said. " ... And everything we've learned from him since we acquired him in late June — from the development camp to seeing him in the (rookie) showcase has just reinforced that we have a blue-chip prospect in Conor Geekie.

"How long it's going to take him, I don't know. And I don't want to bet on that, but we really like the makeup. We really like the tool set, the size, the strength, the ability to carry the puck, protect the puck, shoot the puck, make plays, the meanness, pick up pucks, steal pucks."

As preseason games begin this week, Geekie will have an opportunity to show Lightning brass how close he is to the NHL. He could open the season at AHL Syracuse, but he'll get plenty of minutes in preseason games to prove otherwise.

"You want to make the team, but I think the main goal is just make the decision as hard as I can," Geekie said. "I'm not looking to, you know, be the face of whatever. I'm just trying to make the decision as hard as I can. And wherever I end up, I'm going to play my heart out."

On Sunday, Geekie participated in his first training camp practice with the Lightning's main group. It ended with a scrimmage that featured Geekie centering a line against the team's top trio of Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov.

"I think any kid coming up, it's their dream to play (at that level)," Geekie said. "So, when you look across and you see guys like that, it's pretty cooI. ... I'm a little fanboy out there at times. But you try and do as much as you can."

Preparing to shine Geekie has benefited from watching his oldest brother, Morgan, carve his own path in the NHL. A third-round pick by Carolina in 2017, Morgan didn't find a regular role until he went to Seattle in the expansion draft before the 2021-22 season. He broke out last season with 17 goals for Boston. Geekie's middle brother, Noah, also grew up playing hockey before moving on to a baseball career at Emporia State in Kansas.

"He had to work for everything he got," Geekie said of Morgan. "I appreciate the opportunities that I get, just with whatever it is, and I think I definitely lean on him. Maybe I don't talk to him about it, but just seeing how hard he's worked to get there, he's come a long way from where he was, and I think that definitely helps me out. ... And my other brother, Noah, he works harder than us both on whatever he's doing."

Geekie spent six weeks this summer working out with Morgan in Calgary, sparking their old competitive fire. Geekie also pushed himself against other NHL players, like Flames defenseman Jake Bean, Hurricanes forward Tyson Jost and Blues center Dylan Holloway, but competing with his older brother was paramount.

"One day, me and Morgan had kind of the same workout plan," Geekie said. "We were doing some sprints and stuff, and I already did mine and he did his, and he beat me. And I think we were there for 30-35 minutes just sprinting up and down the gym trying to beat one another. And I unfortunately lost, but he's older, so we'll give him that one."

Geekie also used the summer to improve on his testing scores from development camp in July, which was his introduction to how Lightning prospects train. Geekie said he never had done much front squatting and admitted he never was great at the bench press.

His hard work showed.

"He's had a couple years where he's played late in the year in world junior," Lightning director of player development Stacy Roest said. "So, he's had a couple really busy years playing a lot of games. Development camp was our first time to really get to meet him. And then he's seen our standard and our guidelines of what we expect, and he went home and did the work. We give them all the resources, but like we say, they have to do the work. And he did it, and it'll pay off."

Making it hard on everyone Geekie said he wants to model his game after Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, the 2023-24 Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's top defensive forward. Geekie joked that his younger self would laugh at that — he recalled butting heads with junior coaches over it — but as he's grown older, he understands that being a strong two-way player will be his best path to earning — and keeping — a job in the NHL.

In his final year in major juniors last season, Geekie set career highs with 43 goals and 99 points while playing for the Wenatchee Wild and Swift Current Broncos. His goal differential of plus-51 ranked second in the Western Hockey League.

"I had more success offensively than I ever have, and I played my best defense," Geekie said. "It's one of those things that you kind of just mature into. And like I said, it's fun. It's fun making other teams mad. And when you can play both sides of the puck, it just makes the game a whole lot more fun."

On a Lightning team focused on becoming better defensively after ranking 22nd in goals allowed last season , Geekie knows showing he can play a responsible two-way game is the best way to earn a roster spot.

"I think being able to have that game that I could fall on and be able to play that two-way center game, it just helps a lot in the opportunity aspect," he said. "And I think just for me, I like being a pest. I like being the guy that nobody likes to play against and getting in their ear a little bit."

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