Dylan Duke was one of the leading scorers in the American Hockey League a season ago.
The 23-year-old forward is now one of a number of players seeking more time with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2026-27.
“It starts in camp,” Duke said. “I’m going to work as hard as I can, be a good person on the ice, be a good teammate and give my best effort. I’m going to try to make the team, and if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to go to Syracuse with the same mindset I’ve had the last two years.
Last season was Duke’s second full season with the Syracuse Crunch, in which he had 32 goals and 59 points in 72 games. His 32 goals were tied for third in the AHL and his 59 points were tied for second on the team.
“I think it’s about hard work. “I don’t necessarily score in the prettiest way,” Duke said. “I score goals the hard way in front of goal with tips and rebounds while also shooting and connecting. I think a lot of it is determination.”
The left-shooting forward started his pro career on a high note in 2024-25, scoring 20 goals and 40 points in his first full season with Syracuse. Hey then scored his first NHL goal in his big league debut on February 8 in a 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Duke earned his third career NHL game last season with 9:22 of ice time in an April 7 loss at Ottawa. He was selected in the fourth round by Tampa Bay in the 2021 NHL Draft.
“I’ve seen a workhorse from the moment I met him until now, and that hasn’t changed,” Lightning defenseman Max Crozier said of Duke, his former Crunch teammate. “He’s gotten a lot better. He’s just a humble guy who puts his head down and works and grinds it out and he’s ready to fill whatever role the team needs him to play.”
Standing at 5-foot-10, Duke knows how difficult it can be to make it to the NHL as a small player and has focused on improving his skating.
That’s where Duke’s “workhorse” mentality, which Crozier mentioned, can help.
“I think the first thing when you go out there is you want to be able to run NHL systems, and if you do that, it comes down to hard work and determination, winning the battles at the waist, getting the breaks out of the zone,” Duke said of what he’s learned from his NHL games. “If you’re in the offensive zone, that means you’ve got to hit the right spot and try to position yourself inside because, as we all know, NHL defensemen are big and strong, so you’ve got to find ways to get under them and get inside.”
He spent his offseason in Plymouth, Michigan competing against an impressive collection of NHL players, including Jack, Quinn and Luke Hughes, along with Kyle Connor, Cole Cofield, Connor Hellebuyck, Zach Werensky, Jake Sanderson and others.
“Those guys are so good, and everything they do makes you better,” Duke said. “It makes you more competitive because you have to work as hard as you can to make it through the summer skate. It helped me a ton and I feel like being there with them prepared me for camp.”
Duke also trained with Lightning Skating and Development Coaches Randi Milani, Barb Underhill and Tracy Tutton this offseason to round out her game.
“He’s the perfect example of a player who has created an outstanding AHL identity, and now he needs to do the same thing at the NHL level,” Lightning assistant general manager Jeff Tambellini said. “He’s put himself in a place where he’s going to challenge for drills and deep roster spots, and now he’s got to find a way to show John Cooper and his staff that he can help at the NHL level.”
Duke’s game has grown in each of his first two seasons playing in the Lightning organization, making NHL appearances.
The goal is more in the future and they may be on their way.
“He’s hard not to like,” Crunch head coach and general manager Joel Bouchard said. “Dookie is definitely a Tampa Bay Lightning player. He improves every year. He is dedicated. He goes to dirty areas and he is so happy to train and go to the rink every day. He’s well-respected by his teammates, right? … He brings guys into the fight with him.”
