Tampa Bay Lightning 2016 NHL Draft Preview
The Tampa Bay Lightning have a lot of choices in front of them as GM Steve Yzerman makes his way to the First United Center for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are about to embark on one of the most exciting ventures of the season. Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman along with the Lightning scouting team will be headed to the First Niagara Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
This year is going to be an interesting one of the Lightning. They have a lot of cards in play and many who could be dealt to other teams in order to find himself in a much more favorable position in the first round. The serious question becomes, what would Yzerman have to be willing to part with in order to make the jump?
All possible trades aside, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a total of nine selections in the 2016 NHL Draft. Seven of those picks belong to the Lightning themselves, the other two picks come via trades with other teams. It’ll be interesting to see who the Lightning pick in the first round.
There is no denying the Lightning need to make a move this season to improve their defensive core. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that defensemen Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman have done a good portion of the heavy lifting when it came to defense in the 2015-16 season. Moving forward, the Lightning will need to find someone who can maintain pace with those two veteran defensemen.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may use their first pick to acquire a new defenseman. Thankfully, there is no shortage of defensemen in this year’s draft, both in North American and European Skaters. The Lightning would find themselves in a favorable position if they could acquire someone like defenseman Samuel Girard from the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Much like Victor Hedman, Girard can play on both sides of the ice. In addition to being a skilled defenseman, the 18-year-old Quebec native has absolutely no issues finding the back of the net. In the 67 games he played last season, Girard scored 10 goals and a whopping 64 assists for a total of 74 points.
In addition to his stellar work in the regular season, Girard put up some pretty handsome numbers in the postseason as well. According to NHL.com, Girard registered two goals and 20 assists for a total of 22 points in 21 postseason games. Needless to say, Samuel Girard would be a tremendous asset to the Tampa Bay Lightning blue line.
If there is going to be any sort of blockbuster trades coming out of the Tampa Bay Lightning this year, it will most certainly have to happen early on in the draft. We can’t imagine Yzerman would be willing to let go of any of the moving pieces he has in his arsenal this season for anything less than a Top 5 Draft Pick.
Not to beat an old drum to death, but there are at least two teams in the Top 10 of the draft order who would kill to get their hands on Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. The Toronto Maple Leafs, who currently hold the number one pick, along with Buffalo Sabres, who own the eighth overall pick of the night. Let’s not forget about the rumors surrounding the Calgary Flames desperately seeking Ben Bishop.
Out of those two players, there is one who would be a crushing blow to Tampa Bay Lightning fans and one who the Bolts Nation has seemingly come to terms with allowing to leave. We’re pretty sure we don’t have to illustrate which one is which.
Related Story: Tampa Bay Lightning: Top 5 Draft Prospects
In the Second Round, the Tampa Bay Lightning own the 44th overall pick, which they acquired from the Boston Bruins in exchange for former Lightning right wing Brett Connolly. The Bolts also own the 58th overall pick in the second round. Steve Yzerman has not been very open about his intentions heading into the draft.
Being completely honest, it will be incredibly difficult to guess what Yzerman has planned for the Second Round and beyond. A lot of those decisions will be based on what he chooses to do in the first round. If Yzerman makes a large trade in the first round, we have a sneaking suspicion he’ll let off the gas a bit in the following rounds in order to restock the developmental system rather than trade for potentially high money deals.
In the rounds that follow, the Tampa Bay Lightning are left with six more selections. Yzerman has the #88 pick overall in Round Three, the #118 selection in the Fourth Round, #148 in the Fifth Round, #178 in the Sixth Round, and the final two selections in the Seventh Round; #206 (from the Dallas Stars via the Edmonton Oilers) and the 208th overall selection.
One would think if Yzerman makes one of the aforementioned “big deals” to move up in the draft, he will have to part with at least a few of the Lightning’s lower round selections in addition to an actual player. As we said before, it’s incredibly hard to predict what Yzerman has in store for Lightning fans over the course of the next two days, but as we mentioned before, everything hinges on the crucial first round.
Next: 5 Possible Destinations For A Free Agent Stamkos
There are more than a few questions which are very much in need of answers. The good news is, Tampa Bay Lightning fans won’t have to wait much longer to see how things are going to play out. When the clock strikes seven tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be on the clock and over the course of the next few hours, Lightning fans will sit on the edges of their seats waiting to see which way the wind blows for the Bolts.