Lightning camp veteran Adam Erne ready to take next step in career

Adam Erne’s first full season in professional hockey was, admittedly, “a little weird.”

Erne, a second round (33rd overall) selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2013 NHL Draft, broke his hand in his fourth game with the Syracuse Crunch. The power forward missed nearly a month and a half of the season before returning to put up 14 goals and 15 assists in 59 games.

Erne, however, didn’t see the setback as, well, a setback. The time off the ice allowed him to see the game from a different viewpoint, one that he was able to put to use once he was fully healthy and ready to play again.

“The injury kind of helped me in the sense that I got to watch a lot of games and realize things like how much time you actually have,” Erne said following the opening day of Tampa Bay’s 2016 rookie camp.

“When you’re in the game, it seems a lot faster, the guys seem bigger. But just from watching the games for a month and a half, you realize how much time you have with the puck. It’s easier to make plays than it might seem when you’re out there. So, I just try to take advantage of the time I had off.”

In his first game back from injury, Erne put his newfound perspective to good use. He scored a goal and added two assists for the …

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