Tampa Bay Lightning set to pick 14th overall in 2017 NHL Entry Draft
By Will Clewis
The Tampa Bay Lightning will have the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft this summer. This is the first time the franchise has the 14th pick.
After the NHL Draft lottery selection on April 29, the Tampa Bay Lightning found out where the team will pick in the upcoming summer draft. For the first time in franchise history, the Lightning will have the 14th overall pick, though they’ve picked much higher and around the 14th spot before. According to a press release, “The Lightning had a roughly two percent chance of moving into the top three picks.”
This comes after a 42-30-10 season with 94 points, just short of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning’s Atlantic Division-rival Toronto Maple Leafs took the final spot but lost in the first round to the top-seeded Washington Capitals.
Despite falling short of the playoffs this year, the Tampa Bay Lightning still have a draft pick within the Top 15, unless, of course, they decide to trade it away for something else. In the past few years, the Lightning have had later picks due to better regular season and playoff finishes. It hasn’t been long, though, since the organization has selected within the Top 15.
After the 2011-12 and 2013 seasons, the Lightning had the No. 10 and No. 3 picks, respectively, and in those drafts, the organization selected defenseman Slater Koekkoek and forward Jonathan Drouin. One of those picks has turned out well, and the other is still a work in progress, but that’s a topic for another day.
Nonetheless, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be able to select a quality player with the 14th pick, even if this draft isn’t as full of great talent as in previous drafts. Some mock drafts, like this one from Bleacher Report, have the Lightning taking defenseman Juuso Valimaki from the Tri-City Americans of the WHL or a forward/left wing.
Prospects like defenseman Timothy Liljegren from Rogle BK of the SHL in Sweden have come up in the conversation, but Liljegren, for instance, could be taken before the Lightning even have a chance to consider the pick. With Liljegren, though, it’s not certain that he’d even sniff the NHL ice with Tampa Bay for that long, especially with the way the team has handled young defensemen lately.
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There are many possibilities, though, when it comes to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s first round pick in the 2017 Draft. Once we get closer to draft day and the end of the playoffs, it’ll be easier to predict/see who the team might pick. For now, it’s all speculation, and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens this June in Chicago.