With the 154th overall pick, their second in the fifth round, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Los Angeles, California native center Cooper Soller. 

Soller, a product of the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, is currently playing for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League. In 62 regular season games with the Stampede last season, he scored 26 goals and 49 points. 

Soller is expected to return to the Stampede for the 2026-27 season, but he is currently committed to join Western Michigan University for the 2028-29 season. 

"Cooper Soller has a really interesting profile as a true centre, August birthday, and track record of production in his first full season in the USHL," Elite Prospects scout Whittaker Heart wrote back in May. "The sense is pretty good. He receives pucks in the middle of the ice and facilitates pucks from station to station. Competes pretty hard, getting involved and throwing his weight around as much as possible. Some enviable traits, but he looks like a D-grade still."

It seems that Soller is a bit of a long-shot to make an impact at the NHL level, but as a 17-year-old center, he has plenty of time to develop his game and turn himself into a more legitimate NHL caliber prospect.