When thinking of Ondrej Palat, many fans think of the consistent winger who played top-six minutes for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fans imagine the beloved player who won back-to-back Stanley Cups for the Bolts. Fans do not remember the origins of Ondrej Palat, who was a seventh round draft pick in the 2011 NHL draft as per the NHL.
In the 2011 NHL draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning were present ready to pounce on the next opportunity to improve their roster. When the seventh round came around, The Lightning needed to make a decision: who would be their next pick? Near the end of the draft, many of the remaining players were surely losing hope of finding a home with a professional National Hockey League club. For the young Ondrej Palat, little did he know he would finally be given a chance.
In his draft year back in 2011, Ondrej Palat in QMJHL tallied 39 goals and 57 assists for 96 points as per the AHL. His impressive stats did not end there. Elite Prospects records Palat as having managed to score 11 points in 10 QMJHL playoff games. Palat truly put his heart on his sleeve as he put everything he had into his game. Now was the moment in which hopefully he would find out if all of his work was truly worth it.
Unfortunately, he was passed on in almost every single round of the 2011 NHL draft. Although hope was running thin for Palat, Tampa Bay gave him hope. The Tampa Bay Lightning then made Ondrej Palat extremely happy: Elite Prospects shows the Lightning as having drafted Palat at #208th overall.
Instead of making the jump immediately into the NHL, Elite Prospects shows Palat as having spent time with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate in the Syracuse Crunch. While Elite Prospects records Palat’s short stint with the Tampa club in the 2012-2013 NHL season, he was not a full-time NHLer just yet. In the AHL, Palat was given the fundamental time to really refine his game and develop into a truly NHL-caliber forward.
Inevitably, Palat was finally given his full-time breakthrough during the 2013-2014 NHL season as per Elite Prospects. Palat certainly did not disappoint. In fact, Palat shocked the National Hockey League.
Ondrej Palat's rookie campaign saw him score 59 points, which was enough to earn a Calder trophy nomination as listed by the NHL. The NHL additionally shows Palat as having finished in second in Calder voting. Who would have ever guessed a seventh round pick could defy all expectations set on him? Ondrej Palat did.
From there, the rest of career shot forward. Palat became a stable part of the Lightning lineup for years to come. He provided reliable scoring and was even able to keep up with star players such as Nikita Kucherov. To end his career in Tampa Bay, Palat managed to help the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. Although Palat is no longer a Bolt, he will always be remembered for his time in Tampa Bay.