The Tampa Bay Lightning had a quiet first day of the 2026 NHL Draft, but that certainly wasn't the case on Saturday, as they made six picks in the final six rounds of the draft.
Their first pick of the weekend came when they opted to trade up for the 52nd overall pick to select winger Oleg Kulebyakin from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Kulebyakin grew up as a fan of the Lightning, due to his admiration for Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov.
Heading into the draft, Kulebyakin was ranked anywhere from the end of the second round to the middle of the fifth round. Clearly Julien BriseBois saw something he liked from the 18-year-old forward, as he traded up to ensure they got their guy.
The Lightning went off the board again in the third round, as with the 90th overall pick, they selected overage defenseman Tomas Kralovic from HC Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia.
Kralovic was first eligible to be drafted in 2023, when he was the 122nd ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting. He took some major steps forward in his development during the 2025=26 season, specifically on the offensive side of the puck.
In their 2026 NHL Draft Guide, Elite Prospects wrote "Královič’s combination of size, mobility, and offensive boom-potential could make him a late-round target, should a team believe that his development will keep climbing. Though his projection still includes a lot of risk and uncertainty, and he’ll likely need an offensively inclined role to succeed, he could find a role in the professional game in North America."
Kralovic is certainly far from a sure thing, but the Lightning didn't want to risk missing out on him.
With their first fifth-round pick, 134th overall, the Lightning selected a player who created quite a bit of debate amongst draft experts, Morgan Anderberg.
Tony Ferrari of The Hockey News had Anderberg ranked as high as 55th, while McKeen's Hockey had him all the way at 270th. Dobber Prospects had him in the middle, as their 74th ranked prospect in the draft.
A 5-foot-11 forward, Anderberg's size is a disadvantage for a player that's projected to play a middle-six role in the long run, but it's nothing that should've affected him majorly. He played in 39 Swedish Hockey League games during the 2025-26 season, which is an impressive feat for an 18 year old in its own right. He wasn't a highly effective scorer during those games, scoring just two goals and a total of three points, but he was playing against men which brings valuable experience.
Later in the fifth round, the Lightning were back on the clock for the 154th overall pick. This time, they selected their first North American born player of the draft class, selecting Cooper Soller out of Los Angeles, California.
Soller, a product of the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, is a 17-year-old forward who was ranked 140th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He's committed to attend Western Michigan University beginning in the 2028-29 season, but is currently a member of the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League.
With the 186th overall pick, the Lightning opted to draft a goaltender, Russian-born Stepan Shurygin. Shurygin just completed his first season in the Ontario Hockey League after moving to North America after a successful season in the Russian MHL.
Shurygin played a lot of hockey for the Saginaw Spirit in his rookie season, appearing in 59 games and making 1,704 saves. His 24-27-7 record and counting stats certainly don't paint him in the best light, but he was behind a team that finished third-last in the Western Conference during the regular season.
With their final pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, the Lightning selected overage defenseman Max Vilen from the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats. Vilen, a native of Hammarlov, Sweden; moved to North America ahead of the 2025-26 season and joined the Saint John Sea Dogs before being traded to the Wildcats midseason.
Vilen was ranked 216th by McKeen's Hockey and was left off the majority of experts' lists.
