2013 NHL Draft: Breaking It Down for the Tampa Bay Lightning

#124 overall – Kristers Gudlevskis, Goaltender, HK Riga – Minor Hockey League

I find this to be a very interesting choice, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Last season, the 20-year old Latvian native played 56 games with HK Riga. During that time, he held a Goals Allowed Average of 2.09 and a Save Percentage of .927.

The 6’4 190 pound goaltender also represented Latvia at the World Chapionships this year. In the 4 games he played, he maintained a Goals Allowed Average of 2.22 and a Save Percentage of .925.

Now, as to why I find this interesting choice.

I was very intrigued as I heard his name called because the Tampa Bay Lightning has yet to make an offer to Syracuse Crunch goaltender Cedrick Desjardins, who is set to be an Unrestricted Free Agent this season.

Could this mean that they are planning on moving Desjardins during the off-season?

At this point, only Lighting Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman knows with 100% certainty what his plan for the organization is going into the 2013-14 season.

I am interested to see how to the addition of Gudlevskis to our list of prospects will play out as time goes on, and where he will ultimately end up.