HOCK.ly - Future of Hockey Content June 25, 2013 | Page 43

Williams, Lecavalier has played 12 seasons with the Bolts accumulating 383 goals, 491 assists, 874 points and 746 penalty minutes in 1,037 games. The 6’4”, 208 lbs. center is the career Lightning leader in games played (1,037), goals (383), even strength goals (258), power play goals (112), game winning goals (60) and shots (3,166). Vinny is second in career assists (491) and points (874). He is third all-time in penalty minutes (746) and shorthanded goals (13).

The Ile Bizard, Quebec native is a four time All-Star (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009), a Maurice Richard Trophy winner (2006-07), a King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner (2007-08) and a Stanley Cup winner (2003-04). Vinny ranks in the top 100 All-Time NHL leaders in shots (3,166) and even strength goals (258).

1999 – Sheldon Keefe – Forward - #46, #27, #42, #28 - Drafted 47th (second round) overall by the Lightning, Keefe played three seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points and 78 penalty minutes in 125 games.

The 5’11”, 185 lbs. winger was claimed by the New York Rangers from Tampa Bay in the Waiver Draft on October 3, 2003 and then was claimed on waivers by Tampa Bay from the New York Rangers on October 24, 2003. Keefe was signed as a free agent by Phoenix on July 12, 2004.

Keefe never touched NHL ice after leaving the Lightning. He last played for the Utah Grizzlies of the AHL in 2004-05. He has NHL career numbers of 64 goals, 189 assists, 253 points and 776 penalty minutes in 734 NHL games with six different teams.

2000 – Nikita Alexeev – Forward - #15 - Drafted 8th overall by the Lightning, Alexeev played three seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating 18 goals, 17 assists, 35 points and 28 penalty minutes in 144 games.

The 6’5”, 227 lbs. winger was traded to Chicago by Tampa Bay for Karl Stewart and Florida's 6th round pick (previously acquired, Tampa Bay selected Luke Witkowski) in the 2008 Entry Draft on February 27, 2007. The Murmansk, Russia native is currently playing for Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL.

One of the All-Time draft day busts, Alekseev’s NHL career numbers of 20 goals, 17 assists, 37 points and 28 penalty minutes in 159 NHL games couldn’t measure up to the hype. Imagine if the Bolts decided on Henrik Lundqvist, Ilya Bryzgalov or Lubomir Visnovsky instead. All were available when they picked the Russian.

2001 – Alexander Svitov – Forward - #16 - Drafted 3rd overall by the Lightning, Svitov played two seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating 4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points and 62 penalty minutes in 74 games. The Omsk, Russia native is currently playing for Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the KHL.

The 6’3”, 228 lbs. center was traded to Columbus by Tampa Bay with Tampa Bay's 3rd round pick (later traded to Calgary - Calgary selected Dustin Boyd) in the 2004 Entry Draft for Darryl Sydor and Columbus' 4th round pick (Mike Lundin) in the 2004 Entry Draft on January 27, 2004.

Svitov has NHL career numbers of 13 goals, 24 assists, 37 points and 223 penalty minutes in 179 NHL games.

Stephen Weiss, Mikko Koivu, Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, Patrick Sharp and Christian Ehrhoff were all drafted after Svitov.

2002 – Adam Henrich – Forward – Drafted 60th overall (second round) by the Lightning, Henrich has not played in the NHL. He has played for Brampton (OHL), Springfield (AHL), Johnstown (ECHL), Wheeling (ECHL), Norfolk (AHL), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL), Ontario (ECHL), Cincinnati (ECHL), Hamburg (DEL), Asiago HC (Italy), Alleghe HC (Italy), Coventry (EIHL) and currently, Riessersee SC (Germany).

The Lightning chose Henrich and passed on the likes of Johnny Boychuk and Valterri Filppula.

2003 – Mike Egener – Defenseman – Drafted 34th (second round) by the Lightning, Egener has not played in the NHL. He has played for Calgary (WHL), Springfield (AHL), Johnstown (ECHL), Norfolk (AHL), Mississippi (ECHL), Bjorkloven IF (Sweden), Ontario (ECHL), Florida (ECHL), Esbjerg EfB Ishockey (Denmark) and currently, Coventry (EIHL).

The 2003 draft arguably contained the most talent and was the deepest draft in history, with NHL players drafted in all nine rounds. Every player drafted in the 1st round made it to the NHL within eight years. As of 2012, 22 of the players drafted in round one have played in at least 300 NHL games and nearly one third of them have had their names inscribed on the Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately the Lightning decided to trade away their 1st round pick (25th) to the Florida Panthers who selected Anthony Stewart. Three picks later, a young Corey Perry was taken by Anaheim. In addition to the 34th pick (Egener), Tampa Bay received the 41st pick, which they used to draft Matt Smaby and the 192nd pick from Florida, which brought them Doug O’Brien.

The Bolts drafted Egener and passed on defensemen Shea Weber, Tobias Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien.

If Tampa Bay wanted offense, they still had David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Moulson and Joe Pavelski on the board to pick from.

If the Lightning were in the market for a goalie, Jimmy Howard, Brian Elliott, Corey Crawford and Jaroslav Halak were still available.

Undoubtedly, Egener was the worst pick in the Lightning’s franchise history. With all the high end talent available in this draft, the best NHL player drafted by Tampa Bay turned out to be Nick Tarnasky.

You can view the 2003 draft here.

2004 – Andy Rogers – Defenseman – Drafted 30th overall by the Lightning, Rogers has not played in the NHL. He has played for Calgary (WHL), Prince George (WHL), Springfield (AHL), Norfolk (AHL), Mississippi (ECHL), Toronto (AHL) and last played for Victoria (ECHL) in 2009-10.

Rogers is considered a draft bust as Pekka Rinne, Johan Franzen and Alexander Edler all were chosen after him.

2005 – Vladimir Mihalik – Defenseman - #56 – Drafted 30th overall by the Lightning, Mihalik played in two seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating 3 assists, 3 points and 8 penalty minutes in 15 games. The Presov, Czechoslovakia native is currently playing with HC Slovan Bratislava of the KHL. Mihalik has played in the Lightning prospects camp and been called up a total of 15 times but has yet to catch on with the NHL club.

In picking Mihalik, the Lightning missed out on cornerstone players Keith Yandle, Paul Stastny and Kris Letang.

2006 – Riku Helenius – Goalie - #35 – Drafted 15th overall by the Lightning, Helenius has only seen NHL ice once for just seven minutes and stopped both shots he saw.

Helenius has to be considered a draft bust. He lost an important year of development when he had shoulder surfery and has been trying to catch up ever since. He’s played well at times but has yet to develop into the netminder he was projected to be. He is well down the Lightning’s goalie depth chart and it doesn’t look like he will play in the NHL. Claude Giroux, Semyon Varlamov and Milan Lucic were drafted after the Bolts opted for Helenius.

2007 – Dana Tyrell – Forward - #42 – Drafted 47th overall (second Round) by the Lightning, Tyrell has played three seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating 7 goals, 17 assists, 24 points and 22 penalty minutes in 125 games.

Tyrell is an enigma; he has terrific speed and grit and is a third/fourth line fan favorite. Tampa Bay just hasn’t found a consistent role for him as he went back and forth to Syracuse three times last season.

Here is Bolt Prospects evaluation of Tyrell:

“Tyrell is an outstanding skater with great top end speed and, more importantly, outstanding acceleration. Tyrell is a hard worker who loves to forecheck and isn't afraid to go into high traffic areas. Possesses above average playmaking abilities and a good shot.”

2008 – Steven Stamkos – Forward - #91 – Drafted 1st overall by the Lightning, Stamkos has played five seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating an amazing 208 goals, 178 assists, 386 points and 249 penalty minutes in 373 games. The Bolts had to pick between Stamkos and Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. As it turned out, both players are franchise cornerstones.

Nothing else needs to be said. Stamkos is the real deal and the Bolts will reap the rewards of drafting him for years to come; a true superstar and leader that doesn’t miss a game.

2009 – Victor Hedman – Defenseman - #77 – Drafted 2nd overall by the Lightning, Hedman has played four seasons for Tampa Bay accumulating 16 goals, 73 assists, 89 points and 245 penalty minutes in 258 games. Hedman is a minutes eater, averaging almost 22 minutes per game over his career.

The 6’6”, 229 lbs. blueliner has developed into a true number one defenseman. After the Islanders selected John Tavares at number one, the Bolts had a choice of Hedman or forward Matt Duchene. Duchene has not developed into a top line center and Hedman is fast becoming a franchise defenseman.

2010 – Brett Connolly – Forward - #14 - Drafted 6th overall by the Lightning, Connolly has played 73 games for Tampa Bay accumulating 5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points and 30 penalty minutes. GM Steve Yzerman grabbed his first draft pick as a GM when he took Connolly at number 6 overall. The 6’2”, 200 lbs. winger was once thought to be a top three pick, but a hip injury limited him to just 16 games in his draft year and his stock fell. Still only 21, Connolly is a pure scorer and is primed to make the big club next season.

The British Columbia native is currently playing in the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs with the Syracuse Crunch and has netted 31 goals, 63 points and 53 penalty minutes in 71 games. Connolly

Bolt Ptospects says of Connolly:

“If he's healthy, the Lightning have a first line scoring winger for the next 10 years. Red Line compares Connolly to Sharks star Patrick Marleau in terms of his skills package. But, it's also a possibility that Connolly's injury problems never go away and he's a part time player a la Buffalo's Tim Connolly. High risk. High reward.”

2011 – Vladislav Namestnikov – Forward – Drafted 27th overall by the Lightning, Namestnikov is well on his way to the NHL as he is already contributing to the AHL Syracuse Crunch’s playoff run this season.

Bolt Prospects says of Namestnikov:

“Namestnikov is a hard working, gritty player who fearlessly takes the puck to the net and also loves to chirp and instigate his opponents. Creative with the puck and is a good playmaker with great ability to make tips and deflections and a dangerous backhand. He's also honest and responsible defensively.”

The Russian native ranks in the top ten of a very strong and deep group of Lightning prospect forwards

2012 – Slater Koekkoek – Defenseman – Drafted 6th overall by the Lightning, Koekkoek has battled injuries early on in his professional career. The 6’2”, 185 lbs. defenseman was playing well last season with Peterborough when he was shut down with a season-ending shoulder injury after just 26 games. The Ontario native had accumulated 5 goals and 18 points when he went down.

Very highly rated (23rd among North American skaters) by the NHL Central Scouting Service prior to the Lightning drafting him, Koekkoek remains a top defensive prospect for the Bolts.

Bolt Prospects ranks Koekkoek as their highest rated defenseman:

“Good skater with excellent burst. Shows good intelligence and is excellent at reading and jumping into the play. Good snap shot. Can play big minutes.”

Just as with any NHL organization, the NHL draft is an emotional rollercoaster ride. While it’s much too early in his tenure to rate GM Steve Yzerman’s draft classes, it does seem that he is doing well and has the Bolts heading in the right direction. Tampa Bay’s minor league system is churning out a long list of NHL ready players.