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Tampa Bay Lightning Prospect Profile: Bokondji Imama

By Tasha St. Pierre

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Let’s take a closer look at one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s newest prospects to join the organization, left wing Bokondji Imama.

The Tampa Bay Lightning may not have had a very high position at the 2015 NHL Draft at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, but Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman skillfully used the resources available to him in order to give the Tampa Bay Lightning yet another successful draft class.

One of the players that were added to the Tampa Bay Lightning organization at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft was a young forward by the name of Bokondji Imama. The imposing nineteen year old left wing spent the beginning of last season as a member of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Imama played in 36 games with the Drakkar, in which time he was able to score 10 goals and 9 assists for a total of 9 points to accompany a plus-4 rating. As the season progressed, Imama’s time with the Drakkar would come to an end.

During the trade period, Imama was acquired by the Saint John Sea Dogs. In his 23 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs, Imama scored 3 goals and 6 assists for a total of 9 points. The difference in between his time with Baie-Comeau and Saint John is that Imama got to see some time in the post season with the Sea Dogs.

While Imama was only able to find his way to the scoreboard one time in the post season with an assist in the Sea Dogs’ final post season game, which just happened to be against Imama’s former team, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, the experience gained from playing in a high pressure environment like that is crucial to the development of any young player.

Anyone who has ever seen Imama on the ice knows that there is one thing he is especially good at, besides playing hockey of course. Imama is never one to back away from a good fight. In fact, he is pretty skilled in the art of dropping the gloves and laying the smackdown on an opponent.

Just in case you haven’t yet had the privilege of watching him drop the gloves yet, allow us to give you an example. On February 27th as the Saint John Sea Dogs took on the Charlottetown Islanders at Harbour Station in Saint John.

Needless to say, Boko Imama and Charlottetown Islanders left wing Oliver Cooper had a bit of a disagreement on the ice. We think it’s safe to assume that Imama was the one who ultimately came out on top in this encounter. In fact, if you listen carefully to the play-by-play announcers, they refer to Imama as someone “not to be trifled with.”

It has been quite some time since we have had someone on the team who has been referred to in quite that kind of light. While fighting should never be the cornerstone of any team’s game, it is definitely nice to have someone on your side of the ice that is willing and able to get down to business when the proper situation presents itself.

Unfortunately, there is a very slim chance that Imama will crack the Tampa Bay Lightning’s main roster this season. Given the amount of highly skilled forwards that are already in development with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, that will be vying for a spot on the opening day roster, it is likely that he will return to his junior team for the 2015-16 season.

On the bright side, the Tampa Bay Lightning has always had a bright, talented, young core in our development program and we have no doubt in our minds that once Imama has been able to further develop his game a little more, he will be a force to be reckoned with in the National Hockey League.

What are your initial thoughts on Bokondji Imama? What kind of an impact do you think a player like Imama would have on the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup? How long do you think it will be before he has an opportunity to crack the Lightning lineup? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: Who Will Lead The Charge Next Season?

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