2015 NHL Mock Draft: Tampa Bay Lightning Selects Noah Juulsen

The NHL Division here at FanSided is at it once again and we now bring to you the 2015 NHL Mock Draft. The Tampa Bay Lightning has selected defenseman Noah Juulsen.

The 2014-15 Season has finally come to an end, and what a season it was for the Tampa Bay Lightning. While they may have fallen just shy of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup high over their heads, no one can take away from them the fact that they fought to become the Eastern Conference Champions.

Now that the urgency of the post season has come to an end and the players are enjoying their well-deserved rest, the eyes of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, as well as those of us here in the Bolts Nation, turn our eyes towards one of the next big events in front of us.

Before Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman and Director of Amateur Scouting Al Murray make their way south to the BB&T Center in Sunrise, the home of our in-state rivals the Florida Panthers, for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, we here at FanSided take a look at the prospects and take our crack at the hot seat and play GM for a day in the 2015 NHL Mock Draft.

So…with the 28^th overall selection in the 2015 FanSided NHL Mock Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected defenseman Noah Juulsen of the Everett Silvertips of the WHL.

We’re sure the next question on the top of your minds is why another defenseman? Furthermore, why this defenseman in particular? Well…let’s start with the first question.

While this is all purely speculation at this point, we have a pretty distinct feeling that Yzerman has a plan to shake things up a little bit this season. There are players whose contracts are coming to an end, and some who Yzerman may feel have reached the end of the road in their careers with the Lightning.

This means that Yzerman not only has some holes to fill on the blue line, but once that has been completed he will be in need of some bright, young talent to take the place of those who may be making the jump to the main roster.

If there is anything that Yzerman has proven to be especially good at since taking over as Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning is that he knows how to build a solid, young core of players that are ready to be called upon at any moment should the need arise.

This brings us to the second question…why Noah Juulsen?

Noah Juulsen is an incredible two-way defenseman that has speed that could easily match that of the Triplets line, and that’s saying quite a lot. Anyone who can keep pace with players like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Nikita Kucherov get an ‘A’ in our book.

While Juulsen may have started out as a second round contender, as soon as people began to get a look at his spectacular performance this season, there was no denying that he more than deserved to be a legitimate first round contender.

It turns out that we are not the only one who thinks this about the young Canadian defenseman. Dan Marr, the Director of NHL Central Scouting, had nothing but positive things to say about Juulsen.

"“Juulsen has taken his game to another level and has been consistent throughout the season. We’re very comfortable saying that he is a legitimate first round contender.” ~ Dan Marr via NHL.com"

Last season was Juulsen’s second season with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. Juulsen scored a mere 10 points in his rookie campaign, but when he hit the ice for his sophomore season he proved all his detractors wrong by posting 9 goals and a whopping 43 assists for a total of 52 points in the season. This accompanies Juulsen’s plus-22 rating, which placed him in second place on the team in that category.

Another thing that sparks our interest in Juulsen is his ability on the Power Play and Penalty Kill. In their recap of the 2014-15 season, the Everett Silvertips describe Juulsen has being a part of their top defensive unit, being paired with defenseman Ben Betker. According to the Silvertips, this pairing was crucial; not only at even strength but on the penalty kill as well.

The Silvertips also go on to speak of what they call Juulsen’s “booming shot” that made him an integral part of their Power Play squad. So…not only can he rock the house on both full-strength and the penalty kill, but he can be a key player on the Power Play as well? Who wouldn’t want a player like this?

The 18 year old British Columbia native stands 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighs 174 pounds. Juulsen definitely has the height thing down pat; he will certainly need to put on a little more weight before he will be able to go toe-to-toe with defenseman like Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

The good news is, this is something that will not only come with age, but also with training.

Another thing that we like about this young defenseman is that he has no issues using his body to not only get in front of the play, but to send his opponents flying into the glass and to the ice.

Also, much like former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas and current Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn, Juulsen knows a thing or two about dropping the gloves and getting down to business.

The Tampa Bay Lightning do indeed have a lot of promising young defensemen in the developmental system right now, but with the moves that we are anticipating Yzerman making this off-season it never hurts to have another one waiting in the wings; especially one the caliber of Noah Juulsen.

Despite the difference in their sizes, Juulsen reminds me a lot of Victor Hedman. As we mentioned before, he has incredible speed, a hard hit, and can keep pace with his teammates at both ends of the ice. We don’t know about you, but we think this is exactly the kind of player the Tampa Bay Lightning needs in their lineup.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think defenseman Noah Juulsen would make a good addition to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup at some point? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Now that our pick is in and all is said and done, our friends over at Broad Street Buzz (our Philadelphia Flyers site) are on the clock. Who will the Flyers choose to be the potential future of their franchise? We shall find out tomorrow. Until then, here is a look at where we stand thus far.

27. Brock Boeser (Anaheim Ducks)

26. Jake DeBrusk (Montreal Canadiens)

25. Jacob Larsson (Winnipeg Jets)

24. Brandon Carlo (Toronto Maple Leafs)

23. Thomas Chabot (Vancouver Canucks)

22. Oliver Kylington (Washington Capitals)

21. Timo Meier (Buffalo Sabres)

20. Colin White (Minnesota Wild)

19. Ryan Pilon (Detroit Red Wings)

18. Kyle Connor (Ottawa Senators)

17. Nick Merkley (Winnipeg Jets)

16. Evgeni Svechnikov (Edmonton Oilers)