Sam O’Reilly among final Lightning roster cuts

The Tampa Bay Lightning made 11 roster cuts on Sunday, September 27, 2026, to trim their squad down to 26 players ahead of Monday's deadline. Among those assigned to the Syracuse Crunch was 20-year-old center Sam O'Reilly, along with Dylan Duke, Lucas Mercuri, and Noah Steen, who were all waiver-exempt.

Five additional players were placed on waivers for assignment to Syracuse, while Matteo Pietroniro and Jarred Tinordi were released from try-out contracts. Despite logging 66:40 of ice time, recording two assists, and leading the team in preseason penalty kill minutes, O'Reilly was omitted from the opening roster.