With the 56th pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Ethan Czata, a center/ right wing from the Niagara IceDogs.
He is a 6’1”, 175lb left-handed shooter from Brampton, Ontario.
Czata, 18, is a two-way player with strong playmaking ability offensively and has commitment to speeding back down the ice to support his team defensively as well. Hockeywriters.com describes him as a player with a great ability to read the ice and anticipate a play before it happens in an effort to put himself into proper position to be successful. He’s an aggressive player who’s not afraid to put himself out there.
Offensively he’s known as being a player who can switch direction well, skate himself into “loose puck races” or gain separation from defenders. He has NHL-level speed.
The left-handed shooter still has work to do in terms of growing in his passing skills and limiting the amount of penalty situations he gets himself into, but at such a young age still, he has room for growth and development.
In 2024-25 with the IceDogs, he scored 21 goals, had 34 assists, and had 55 total points.
NHL analysts believe he will end up in the middle-six of a lineup in a role requiring energy and checking. He has scouting ratings of 4.5 in skating, 5.0 in shooting, 5.5 in passing, 5.0 in handling, 5.5 in sense, 6.5 in phsycially, with an overall scouting grade of a B per elite prospects.
Czata was a member of the 2023 U17 WHC Gold Medal with Canada White, the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Gold Cup Medal with Canada, played in the Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game, and was a member of team Canada in the 2025 U-18 World Junior Championships with Canada as well.
The Tampa Bay Lightning start the draft with an offensive player as expected.
The Lightning’s next pick is scheduled to be in round 4, No. 127 overall, unless of course a trade is made prior to that.
But for now, the Lightning begin their 2025 draft with the 18 year old forward, Czata from the Niagara IceDogs.