Prospect depth a continued concern for the Tampa Bay Lightning

We here at Bolts by the Bay have chronicled how long the window might be open for the Tampa Bay Lightning. One of the primary concerns we have written about is how the lack of draft picks will eventually catch up to the squad as the current stars age out.

And according to a recent list from Yahoo Sports, the Lightning have one of the thinnest prospects pools in all of the NHL.

Tampa Bay Lightning: The future is…

Ian Kennedy of Yahoo Sports ranked every team’s prospect pool, and according to Kennedy, the Tampa Bay Lightning has the third-worst pool in the NHL.

Among the concerns he has for the organization:

"“Isaac Howard didn’t have a great first NCAA season with Minnesota-Duluth, and Tampa will be hoping beyond hopes that his elite release starts finding the back of the net.”"

Howard was Tampa’s first-round pick in 2022 and could potentially be the only first-round pick Tampa makes from 2020 through 2025.

In Tampa’s defense, guys like Jack Thompson, Gage Goncalves, and Hugo Alnefelt all have realistic pathways to make it to the big club in the near future. Tampa will also more than likely be leaning on the services of Alex Barré-Boulet in 2023.

And note some of the other teams at the bottom of the list. Edmonton was ranked dead last. Vegas, Colorado, Boston, and Florida were all also ranked in the bottom ten.

But the way the NHL works is that when the bottom falls out, the bottom falls out because teams have the gut their minor league system to get over the hump and ascend the top of the mountain.

Tampa has done that and has two Stanley Cups to show for it.

Hold on to those cups and hope Tampa can win another one in the next three years, because there are not many reinforcements waiting in the wings as it stands right now.