Lightning re-acquire former first-round pick Riley Nash

The Tampa Bay Lightning have brought back forward Riley Nash from the Arizona Coyotes via trade in exchange for future considerations, the team announced Monday. Tampa Bay lost Nash on waivers to the Coyotes earlier in the season.

Nash, after clearing waivers, will report to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.

He’s bounced around this season, in large part because his defensive game has slipped slightly from the elite pedestal where it once stood. While Nash hasn’t been a factor offensively for a few seasons now, he was still one of the game’s higher-end fourth-line centers because of his skill defensively.

Now, after the departures of Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, Nash is likely Tampa Bay’s 13th forward for their playoff run. He has 34 games of playoff experience.

This season, Nash has just four assists in 49 games.