Tampa Bay Lightning defensive prospect depth no longer an offensive subject

HEADLINE: Lightning prospect depth no longer an offensive issue

By Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
Sept. 7, 2017

TAMPA – Al Murray sat in the stands of Amalie Arena on Thursday looking over the first day of Tampa Bay Lightning rookie camp.

The Lighting director of amateur scouting doesn’t look for anything in particular as he peers down upon many of the players he and his staff brought in to the organization. But it’s difficult not to notice some of the talent Tampa Bay is bringing in to the organization, especially in one particular area – defense.

A recent influx of defensive prospects has quickly turned an organizational area of perceived weakness in to a strength – perhaps for the first time in the Steve Yzerman era.

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”When you look at our group of young defensemen on the ice – and last year in Syracuse we had Dominik Masin and Ben Thomas as rookies, and they are good players,’’ said Syracuse Crunch head coach Benoit Groulx. “When you look at the ice we have (Erik) Cernak, we are going to have (Matt) Spencer. (Oleg) Sosunov, I think you guys noticed him at 6-foot-8 and my first time seeing him on the ice, he looks pretty good. We have (Mikhail) Sergachev. Cal Foote. So I think when you look at the those young defensemen we have in the pipeline, it’s exciting.’’

It might be the first time that feeling has run through the organization in some time.

Since Yzerman assumed general manager duties in 2010, very few defensemen drafted by Tampa Bay (or signed as undrafted free agents) have been developed by the organization and gone on to make a significant impact at the NHL level.

Since the 2010 draft, the first with Yzerman in charge (though in all fairness, the scouting staff was holdovers from the previous regime), Tampa Bay has drafted a total of 19 defensemen. During that time, the Lightning have drafted at least one defensemen in every draft, with the exception of 2013.

If you take away the past two draft years – 2016 and 2017 as those players are still junior eligible – of the 15 defensemen drafted, six were selected in either the first or the second round. Only four have gone on to appear in a game with Tampa Bay to this point – Radko Gudas, Nikita Nesterov, Slater Koekkoek and Jake Dotchin. Anthony DeAngelo is the only other defenseman drafted by Tampa Bay since 2010 to appear in the NHL but the former first-round pick was dealt to Arizona last summer and made his NHL debut with the Coyotes last season and is now a member of the New York Rangers.

Andrej Sustr was brought in as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and has made the biggest impact, appearing in 274 career games, though there is a faction of the fan base who might suggest Sustr’s impact has been less than positive.

But looking down at the ice, Murray can see a more balanced prospect pool thanks to some recent moves by bringing in Sergachev – a ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft – in a trade with Montreal and former Los Angeles second-round pick Cernak. In June, Tampa Bay drafted Cal Foote with the 14th overall pick.

Add in the selection of Libor Hajek in the second round of the 2016 draft and the emergence of former second round pick Masin along with Thomas, and the Lightning depth on defense from a prospect standpoint suddenly looks a lot brighter and that doesn’t even include either Slater Koekkoek – the 10th overall pick in 2012 – or Jake Dotchin, both of whom have less than a full season of NHL games under their belt.

”They might not be household names, but we think they are all potential NHL players with development and the proper about of time,’’ Murray said.

That’s where this weekend’s rookie camp comes in to play, a measuring stick and an opportunity for the eight defensemen in camp to make an impression and try to establish their spot on the organizational depth chart.

While the threat of Hurricane Irma forced the cancellation of the four-team tournament that was scheduled to be held at Germain Arena in Estero, Tampa Bay will head to Nashville to play three games against the Predators – Saturday at 3 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m. and Tuesday at noon.

Being able to get in games after the cancellation is important.

”It’s nice that our team will still be part of this tournament, even though it’s just two teams,’’ Groulx said. “It’s good for our prospects to be in this kind of tournament against other rookies to be able to get ready for training camp and maybe earn a spot in the exhibition games and give them some experience. It’s good and I’m happy that we are still able to have the tournament.’’

And the chance to put that newly found defensive depth on display for the first time.

”At this time, these guys are all prospects and we have high hopes for all of them . . . we have a good group of defensive prospects and we see the potential that all of them can play in the NHL, I don’t know if it’s one or two or three years from now but we have a group of prospects that are big, they can skate, they can pass the puck. What their strengths are are different from player to player, but we have a nice collection of defensive prospects right now.’’

It’s not quite night and day from where the prospect of defensemen sat a year ago, but it’s certainly a lot brighter.

”It’s a big difference for us,’’ Lightning director of player development Stacy Roest said. “You go from thinking maybe we are a little slim back there to now with Ben Thomas, Dom Masin, Mikhail Sergachev, Hajek . . it’s very good for the future.’’

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