NHL Prospect Pool Overview ‘26-27: Tampa Bay Lightning Happily Paying For Decade of Contention

The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to be a contender despite everyone forecasting their downfall over the last couple of years.

Their pro scouting department somehow continues to find diamonds in the rough and GM Julien BriseBois has always been more than happy to leverage their draft picks and prospects to bolster the NHL lineup for today.

Tampa is more than happy to have one of the lowest upside prospect pools in all of hockey because they’ve won multiple Stanley Cups and they are continuing to contend for another now.

They will fall off one day, and that is when they will have to come to terms with the reality of their pipeline, but it doesn’t seem like that’s today.

With the NHL offseason is in full swing, we have the perfect opportunity to look at each team’s prospect pool, going in alphabetical order, which means it’s Tampa Bay’s turn.

In our annual Prospect Pool series, Tony Ferrari will dig into each team’s top prospects, the strengths and weaknesses of the pipeline, a quick overview of their latest draft class, where each team's positional depth chart stands, and who could be next in line for an NHL chance.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have been among the most aggressive teams in trading future draft picks and that is really starting to show in their prospect pool.

With that said, Lightning fans haven’t had to care about their prospect pool’s quality in some time now. That’s the advantage of cheering for one of the most dominant teams of the last decade.

One player that has been notable in the Lightning prospect pool is Conor Geekie. He isn’t technically a prospect anymore, having played the majority of the ‘24-25 season in Tampa but he was back in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch last year.

Geekie has been a divisive prospect who has major upside. He is a slick shooter who can crush guys when he throws his body around, and there's a good chance he could develop into a major piece of the Lightning’s future.

23-year-old Dylan Duke took a big step in the AHL last year, going from 40 points to 59, showing that he can score at the pro level. Duke is a battler in every sense, working to get to the dirty areas of the ice despite his size.

He has an excellent motor, always looking to find advantages with his effort. He might end up being a tweener, stuck between being a really good AHLer and not quite being NHL caliber, but he has always played above his tools and that could easily happen in Tampa.

Perennial winner Sam O’Reilly is one of the most interesting players in Tampa’s system. He’s won three straight OHL titles, two with the London Knights before last year with the Kitchener Rangers.

He’s been a big part of each of those teams, winning the OHL MVP and playoff MVP last year with Kitchener. He also won the Memorial Cup in each of the last two years, winning MVP at the event last year with Kitchener as well.

The craziest part about the accolades is that his game is based in playing a sound defensive game, ensuring he’s doing all of the little things right, and creating offense through that effort. He’s a physical, detail-oriented center who is a dual-threat scorer. He connects play and chains small moments together. He’s not incredibly dynamic, simply playing effective hockey in all facets.

In his first AHL season, Ethan Gauthier had a solid year. He stepped in and showed his playmaking ability and scored 12 goals, which was a few more than expected. Gauthier looked like a very solid player overall at the AHL level but it will be his pace that is challenged as he takes on a bigger role and eventually looks to push for an NHL job.

Shutdown defender Jan Golicic is heading to the NCAA where he will suit up for Quinnipiac in the fall. He's shown some really steady passing ability and understands how to advance the puck up ice and out of danger. Golicic's defensive game is built upon being aggressive and punishing in his own zone.

Everett Baldwin is a mobile defender who has shown flashes of high end offensive skill. He’s shifty as a puck carrier and understands how to get opponents moving one way before cutting back and creating space. His game needs to round out quite a bit before he goes pro and Providence College is going to be a great place to do so.

Conor Geekie (RW)

Round 2, 52nd overall - Oleg Kulebiakin, RW, Halifax (QMJHL)

Round 3, 90th overall - Tomas Kralovic, D, Bratislava (Slovak)

Round 5, 134th overall - Morgan Anderberg, C, Vaxjo (Swe)

Round 5, 154th overall - Cooper Soller, C, Sioux Falls (USHL)

Round 6, 186th overall - Stepan Shurygin, G, Saginaw (OHL)

Round 7, 218th overall - Max Vilen, D, Moncton (QMJHL)

Tampa Bay had quite an interesting draft, going and getting their guys regardless of the consensus thoughts on many of those players.

It’s been a theme in Tampa’s drafting over the years and you can’t really say that it doesn’t work because they’ve been competitive forever.

Oleg Kulebiakin is an interesting forward who brings high end puck handling and advanced offensive manipulation. He’s a very skilled player who could be a really interesting scorer at the pro level, he just doesn’t bring the requisite physical play or willingness to challenge opponents.

He was able to take advantage of soft coverages in the QMJHL and exploit the weak defensive environment. If he works out, he is going to be quite fun.

20-year-old blueliner, Tomas Kralovic, is a defender who has found success at the Slovakian pro level, exploding for 31 points in 52 games. Kralovic showed much more confidence activating from the blueline or joining the rush.

He has fairly average tools across the board but with success against men already, he should jump right into the AHL and have a decent impact.

Despite struggling to find the scoresheet, Morgan Anderberg spent most of the season at the Swedish Hockey League level, playing a defensive role in the bottom six and utilizing his speed and motor to put pressure on opposing players. Anderberg is exactly the kind of player that the Bolts develop into a pivotal role player for them lower in the lineup.

Fifth round draft pick, Cooper Soller, might be Tampa’s most skilled and offensively gifted draft players among the forwards drafted this year. He's like a pick-and-pop shooter in basketball, playing give-and-go to get himself into shooting positions.

Soller uses lateral movement and picks from teammates and opponents to find pockets of space to get a return pass. While Soller isn’t particularly effective outside of the offensive zone, he has tools to be a solid all-around player, albeit with a limited ceiling.

The Bolts drafted 6-foot-4 netminder Stepan Shurygin out of the OHL in the sixth round. He’s a massive goaltender who is a bit raw in his technical ability but he could be quite an interesting swing late in the draft. He challenges shooters and battles but he is going to need to refine his game when he steps into the pros.

Ending their draft with Max Vilen, Tampa valued adding an overage blueliner who plays a steady defensive game that borders on boring at times. He doesn’t try to do too much, simply killing play with his length and size before moving the puck to a teammate quickly.

He’s not going to 'wow' anyone, but with the ability to step right into the AHL, Vilen is a nice bet late in the draft.

Tampa’s strength is their development. They’ve always been able to find a way to get the most out of a player or two that didn’t seem to have realistic hope of an NHL future.

They find guys that have been cast off or misused in their previous stops or undervalued at the draft and they make them into capable and valuable NHLers.

Tampa has the magic touch and there are a few players in their pipeline that fit the mold of a potential diamond in the rough or role player the Lightning use masterfully.

The unfortunate reality is that the weakness of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s prospect pool is the lack of players with NHL potential.

Tampa will surely find a few diamonds in the rough, they develop as well as any team in the league, but they don’t have guys that look ready to go. Geekie is going to fight for an NHL spot.

They added a couple of nice prospects in the draft. Players like Duke or Gauthier could play depth roles. They just don’t have much outside of that.

Poised for a breakout final season in the OHL, Ethan Czata is a high energy player who is willing to throw his body around all over the ice.

Czata was an underrated standout for the Canadian squad at the World Junior Summer Showcase, excelling in a fourth line role. He's a responsible defender and a battler all over.

His offensive game is fairly simple, built on north-south attacking and playing direct-to-the-net hockey. He could be the exact kind of player that Tampa develops to make an impact at the NHL.

After spending most of the ‘24-25 season in the NHL, Geekie spent most of last year in the AHL.

He's a dual threat offensive player who brings a bit of a physical edge, using his 6-foot-4 frame to it’s fullest.

Skating is the thing holding Geekie back from being a high-end player at the pro level but he has always managed to find a way to play through that weak point in his skillset.

Geekie should be a really effective NHLer this year for the Bolts.

LW: Morgan Anderberg, Oleg Kulebiakin, Dylan Duke, Benjamin Rautiainen, Joe Connor, Noah Steen, Jack Harvey

C: Sam O’Reilly, Ethan Czata, Joona Saarelainen, Jayson Shaugabay, Roman Luttsev, Gabriel Szturc

RW: Conor Geekie, Ethan Gauthier, Hagen Burrows, Marco Mignosa, Niko Huuhtanen, Cooper Soller, Jack Pridham

LD: Jan Golicic, Grant Spada, Max Vilen

RD: Tomas Kralovic, Everett Baldwin, Max Crozier, Dylan Gill, Simon Lundmark

G: Hugo Alnefelt, Stepan Shurygin, Harrison Meneghin, Caleb Heil

For a deeper dive into the prospect pool with player rankings, check out the Yearbook and Future Watch editions of the Hockey News print edition.

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